


Free To Be You And Me

by ashtraythief



Category: Supernatural RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Werewolves Are Known, Knotting, M/M, Self-Lubrication, Werewolves, Wooing, mentions of mpreg
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-08
Updated: 2015-04-08
Packaged: 2018-03-21 21:21:41
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 20,187
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3705161
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ashtraythief/pseuds/ashtraythief
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>From the first moment Jared sees the new beta in the pack, he's head over heels. But after watching Jensen kick not just one but two alpha's asses, Jared knows he's going to need more than just charm to win him over.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [matchboximpala](https://archiveofourown.org/users/matchboximpala/gifts).



> Written for [](http://matchboximpala.livejournal.com/profile)[matchboximpala](http://matchboximpala.livejournal.com/) who was kind enough to bid on me on [](http://fandomaid.livejournal.com/profile)[fandomaid](http://fandomaid.livejournal.com/)’s Typhoon Haiyan auction. In an attempt to make up for the endless amount of time it took me to finish this, I just went grossly above wordcount.
> 
> Please don't repost this story to other sites like wattpad. As the author, it is my decision where I host my stories.  
> Please also don't share this story or any of my works on third-party websites like Goodreads or Booklikes, who I believe are places for published works, not fanfiction.  
> 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“We’re happy to have you, Jensen,” Jim Beaver had said. “The pack will welcome you with open arms, trust me. You’ll find new friends in no time. And if anyone gives you any trouble, just let me know.”

Open arms, indeed. Jensen had just wanted to take a run through the pack’s forest, but instead of quiet solitude and calming forest scents, he’d encountered an overgrown alpha reeking of pheromones who’d decided to trail Jensen through the trees and had not been put off by Jensen snapping and growling.

Jensen snapped at the alpha one more time, showing his teeth. The other wolf huffed in surprise, stopped, then took another step forward. Jensen growled.

The alpha stilled again. He was really big, long legs and a muscular body under almost shaggy chocolate brown fur. He was handsome as a wolf, but that wasn’t the point. It didn’t matter that he made Jensen flush under his light coat, didn’t matter that this wolf was undeniably alpha, _everywhere_ , and that Jensen hadn’t felt a physical reaction this strong in a long time.

The point was that Jensen had just wanted to take a run, stretch his legs, reconnect with his animal side, and explore the woods surrounding campus, not fight off unwanted advances. Sure, it was the week leading up to the full moon, so shifters were more likely to act instinctually, especially in their animal form, but that was no reason for the alpha to follow him through the forest like a lost duckling.

Alphas tended to be entitled knothead assholes, but Jensen had hoped it’d be different here. The Seattle pack’s progressiveness was one of the main reasons Jensen had applied to UDub; that and their excellent program for Lycanthropic Science, of course. After years of struggling in Texas, he’d had enough of his mother constantly worrying and his father grumbling about him not being mated already, and everyone saying, “really, Jensen, you’re twenty-five now, don’t you feel the urge to mate and get pregnant?”

No, he did not. Not that Jensen was against mating and getting pregnant in general, he just didn’t want that now. Or in the next five years. Dating was fine, it was just the settling down part he wanted to avoid for a while. Jensen wanted to live a little first. His parents had disagreed, as had his former pack alpha, so Jensen had packed his bags and his couch into the flatbed of his truck and driven up to Washington. Which was why he currently found himself exploring unknown terrain with unwanted company.

From the way the large alpha was still circling him, he clearly seemed to think Jensen’s “no” wasn’t valid somehow. Jensen had had enough. He flattened his ears to his head and bared his teeth in a way that made it unmistakably clear he was serious.

The other wolf froze, one paw raised off the ground, and eyed Jensen in surprise. Jensen huffed. Apparently the alpha couldn’t understand why a beta would reject him. Asshole.

Jensen growled again, then turned around and trotted off. Really, this was not how it was supposed to go, he was — Jensen stopped when a different dark-furred wolf appeared in his path, leering at him and getting in his space. Oh, that was _it_. Jensen snapped at the other wolf, got a good bite in before wrestling the alpha onto his back and getting his teeth around the alpha’s neck. Being one of the few male betas in an ultraconservative pack had taught Jensen to hold his own in a fight.

The alpha went down surprisingly easy and Jensen growled at him one more time for good measure. He’d suddenly lost interest in the forest; he just wanted to go home. He’d be out here again tomorrow anyway, for the monthly bonfire which also served as the welcome ceremony for new members. He could only hope the alphas would behave then.

The thing was… Jensen liked having an alpha in bed. His first boyfriend had been an alpha and _man_ , he’d been all alpha. Jensen had loved getting manhandled and fucked hard. It was just the other stuff that came with dealing with alphas that put him off. Like their inability to understand the word “no” or that Jensen was not some pretty little thing, only good for bed-warming and childbearing. It was supposed to be different out here, a chance for a relationship that could make him happy on a physical, as well as an emotional, level.

On the way back to where he’d parked his old, beaten-up truck, he passed a couple going at it in a hollow. Jensen sped up. He didn’t know if they didn’t notice him or just didn’t care, but the alpha kept on pounding into the petite beta while they were howling with pleasure. Well, that was definitely different from how things in his old pack had worked. Wolf or no wolf, you didn't just fuck in the middle of the forest.

Jensen only barely evaded a beta running through the woods, an alpha close on her heels, and shortly before he reached his car, he could hear the sounds of another mating. He wondered if joining this pack was such a good idea after all.

The sun had set and he could hear music and laughter in the distance, but he ignored it, getting into his car and driving to his little apartment at the edge of campus. He just wanted to be alone.

 

 

 

The full moon was on a Saturday. Jim Beaver had assured Jensen that while many people would attend the bonfire, they didn’t make a big fuss about new members. Jensen’s public acceptance by the council members was only a formality anyway; he’d given the Alpha his blood oath in private already. The little ceremony would introduce him to the pack officially and then he’d be able to roam pack grounds without looking like an outsider, meet people, and have drinks and food.

“My wife makes the best burgers in the state, so you better come hungry,” the alpha had said.

So here he was, parking his truck in the big parking area at the edge of the forest. There was a sign saying “ _Pack Lands. Entrance with permission only. Trespassers will be prosecuted._ ”

In the months leading up to his move, Jensen had never once been nervous. He’d been so focused on getting out of Texas and away from his old pack that he’d never once considered that he’d be alone in a new city, living with a pack he didn’t know.

He was nervous now, he realized, and he shook his head, angry at himself. He’d be fine, he could do this.

He was still standing next to his truck, trying to convince himself that everything would work out, when another car arrived in the parking lot. Two young women, a redhead and a brunette, got out of an old Chevelle. They were deep in a conversation, arguing about cocktail recipes from what Jensen gathered, but they stopped when they saw him.

“Hey there,” the brunette said. “You look a little lost.”

Jensen smiled and shrugged his shoulders. “I’m new around here. Is it that obvious?”

She laughed. “A bit, yeah.”

“We do know almost every member of this pack,” the redhead added. “And trust me, we would remember you.”

Jensen did a double take. Were they flirting? He knew he was attractive, but he was a beta and they had to know that. Beta women didn’t hook up with beta men.

The brunette elbowed her friend into the side. “Dani, don’t scare the poor guy. My name’s Gen,” she said and held out her hand. “Don’t pay any attention to Dani here; she’s just really bummed she didn’t get a chance to hook up last night.”

Dani pouted. “Well, I was counting on Chris, but somehow he managed to get his ass kicked and went home early. Wait a minute…” She scrutinized Jensen. “Last night, Chris got his ass kicked by a beta he’d never seen before. You wouldn’t happen to know anything about that?”

Shit. Jensen was wondering how bad that was, when Gen started laughing. “Oh my god, you did? Way to go! It’s been way too long since somebody gave him a hard time. You make it too easy for him, Dani.”

Dani grinned unrepentantly. “What can I say? I like the fucking part better than the fighting. So, Chris didn’t float your boat?”

Jensen stared at the two women. He honestly had no clue what was going on. He was pretty sure he was missing something big, but he had no idea what that was.

“Well, he got kinda into my space and I wasn’t really in the mood for company.”

“Then why did you go out last night?” Dani asked.

Jensen’s face must’ve shown his confusion, because Gen said, “Oh, you didn’t know! Of course not, you’re new. But didn’t anybody tell you?”

“Tell me what?”

Gen smiled impishly. “What the alpha forgot to mention is that the night before the full moon is sort of an unofficial cruise night. It’s been done for generations, though it might have been a while for the Alpha so he probably forgot. The single members of the pack go out into the forest, there’s some chasing and some fighting, and then we fuck. Touching base with our inner animal and such. So Chris probably assumed you were out there looking for company, you know.”

“Oh.” Now, everything made sense. The first alpha’s confusion at Jensen’s aggressiveness, the couple he’d seen fucking... “I had no idea.”

The two women laughed, but it wasn’t mean.

“Poor Chris. I bet he had no idea what was going on,” Dani said. “Well…”

She trailed off, looking at Jensen expectantly, and he realized he still hadn’t introduced himself.

“Jensen,” he said and held his hand out.

The two women shook it.

“Welcome to the pack,” Dani said. “Now, c’mon, we can introduce you to the rest. Everybody wants to meet the guy who put Chris on his back.”

Jensen wasn’t sure if that was the kind of attention he wanted, but Gen was already going off about how much fun Tom and Rosey had had teasing Chris, which led to her recounting her evening at a bar. Dani jumped in every once in a while to give Jensen little tidbits about the people — _Rosey is such a clown, but harmless really. Yeah, do stay away from Chad, your ass will thank me later. Oh my god, you have to meet Felicia, she’s the best. You know, this is the third time Aldis and Beth broke up and there’s no end in sight, they can’t live with each other, but they can’t be apart either. I swear if Beaver knew about the stuff Michael gets up to he’d throw his sorry ass out of Seattle._

By the time they reached a clearing filled with people milling around tables, soft sounds of a guitar filling the afternoon, Jensen’s head was swimming from all the names, and the only thing he knew for certain was that the two women had apparently decided to adopt him.

He already had agreed to two dinners, one at the best steakhouse in town — _they’re the only ones who know how to make a good steak blue, and it’s divine_ — and one at a little pizzeria — _the lasagna, Jensen, I swear you’ll think you died and went to heaven_ — then there were several ‘were-friendly bars he just needed to go to and the best pool hall in town.

“You do play pool, right?” Dani asked expectantly, pausing for the first time in what felt like ten minutes, and Jensen just nodded.

Gen patted him on the back. “I know it’s a lot, but you’ll be fine. Oh look, there’s Beth and Aldis, seems like they made up last night after all.”

With that, she dragged Jensen across the clearing and he started meeting people. Dani and Gen introduced him to everybody in their path, and he was handed beer after beer. At some point, the Alpha’s wife pulled him down on a bench and forced him to eat a burger. The Alpha had been right; it was a damn good burger. He only realized then that he was already well on his way to drunk.

Back home, Jensen didn’t drink much, because drinking too much meant letting your guard down and giving alphas the wrong idea, but here it was different.

He was just polishing some chip crumbs off his plate when a tall guy sat down in front of him. He had this all-american nice guy face, but his smile had a nasty edge to it.

“Hey Jensen. I’m Michael. I heard you were the one who put Chris on his back last night.”

“I did,” he said carefully.

There were some catcalls from their left, and when Jensen turned his head, he saw a group of alphas staring at them and making rather explicit hand gestures.

“Charming friends,” Jensen said dryly and leaned back, putting some space between himself and this alpha. He didn’t like the look of the guy. He carried himself with a very arrogant air, just like the alphas back home.

The guy laughed. “Don’t pay any attention to them. I have to say, Jensen, I’d love to buy you a beer for how you handled Chris.” He grinned openly at Jensen, and Jensen had to admit to himself that the guy was handsome.

“From what I understand, tonight the beer is free,” Jensen said.

Michael nodded. “True. Maybe some other time? Or you know, we could just head into the woods and see who’s gonna put who on their back if it’s just the two of us.”

Jensen pulled a face. “Dude, if you have to hit on me, does it have to be so crude?”

Michael’s mouth fell open and he just gaped like a fish. It was not a good look on him. Jensen huffed and got up. Unbelievable. He’d left his home because of this exact crap but it didn’t look like he could get rid of it that easy. His hopes of finally finding an alpha to date might have been too far-fetched after all.

Jensen headed to the edge of the clearing and into the woods. He just wanted to be alone for a bit.

 

 

 

Jared caught sight of Jensen again just as he disappeared into the woods. He’d been waiting for his chance to catch Jensen alone the whole night. He wanted to apologize for the other night; the girls had filled him in and told him that Jensen hadn’t had any idea what he’d get himself into if he’d enter packland on date night. And Jensen… well, it had been a while since Jared had seen another wolf and just wanted to go for it.

He had just gone out to find some company. He’d known that Katie might be around and she was always up for some fun under the full moon. And then he’d run into the most beautiful wolf he’d ever seen, all tawny fur and sleek, controlled grace. The moonlight had shone on the golden streaks on his back, lighting him up like a fairy tale come to life.

Of course, Jared had gone after him. The wolf had been adorably growly, like he wanted Jared but wanted him to work for it, but then he’d just flipped, pinning his ears back, and Jared had been too startled to stop him from leaving. When he’d finally caught up with the other wolf, the beta had already run into Chris. Jared was really glad for that because Chris had gotten the serious ass-whooping instead of him.

After that rather puzzling encounter, Jared had been eager to go out for the full moon gathering and find out who the strange wolf was.

Gen and Dani didn’t disappoint; they’d already gathered all important information in less than an hour.

Jensen was new to the pack, originally from Texas, and now attending UDub. He was a grad student and doing something “sciency,” as Gen had put it. She was an English major and abhorred anything non-fictional.

Jared also learned that Jensen hadn’t had any idea what was going on in the forest the previous night, so he’d been understandably surprised to be propositioned so casually.

“And, Jared, he’s from Texas,” Dani had added. “He became a full member of the pack. So whatever went down with his home pack, it probably wasn’t pretty. You tread careful there. You don’t know what he’s been through.”

“Why are you so interested anyway?” Gen had asked. “Sure, he’s hot — okay, very hot — but he doesn’t seem very interested in alphas. You might be biting off more than you can chew there.”

Jared hadn’t been able to explain properly. Sure, there was the physical attraction, but there was… _more_. Jared wanted to find out what made Jensen tick, what had turned him into such a great fighter, and how he looked when he laughed. He wanted to smell him and kiss him and he wanted to see what Jensen looked like when he woke up in the morning.

Jared _wanted_.

So when Jensen brushed off Weatherly, the asshole, Jared got up. This would be a good time to talk to Jensen alone, clear up what happened last night. Unfortunately, when Jared followed Jensen into the forest, so did Weatherly. Guy just couldn’t take a hint.

Weatherly was closer and, even though Jared hurried, he had to cross the whole clearing, weasel out of a drunken Chad’s embrace, and wave off two other people who wanted to talk to him. When he found Jensen and Weatherly — really, it wasn’t hard, he just had to follow the raised voices — they were nose-to-nose, Weatherly pushing into Jensen’s space. Oh, _hell_ no.

Jared was in motion, ready to pull Weatherly off and teach him a lesson about consent, when Jensen clocked the alpha in the face. Weatherly stumbled back, clutching his bleeding nose.

“Don’t you get it?” Jensen hissed angrily. “I don’t want anything from you, _alpha_.” The way Jensen spat out the word, it sounded like the worst insult. “I don’t want your condescending compliments, I don’t want your sleazy come-on’s, and I certainly don’t want your fucking knot. And I swear to fucking everything, if you don’t get it, I will rip you, and your alpha dick, into tiny little pieces.”

Weatherly stared, then his eyes narrowed and his expression turned nasty. “You may think you don’t want a knotting, but you sure as hell could use one with that stick up your ass.”

“Said every rejected alpha ever,” Jensen spat back. “I don’t know why you alphas always think you’re God’s gift to the world but, news flash, you’re not. So you can take your knot and your macho posturing, and shove it up your ass.”

With those words, Jensen stormed off without even noticing Jared. It was probably for the better, because that had been the hottest thing Jared had seen in a while. Jensen just owning Weatherly, taking him apart with words and his fist, so confident and so absolute — it was hot as fuck. Jared was hard in his pants, deep throbbing where his knot would grow, the knot Jensen didn’t want, because Jensen didn’t want alphas and —

“What are you looking at, asshole?” Weatherly growled.

Jared knew he had two choices. Retreat or shift and fight. Weatherly was certainly jonesing for it, and with all the pent up sexual frustration coursing through Jared…

“At a guy who’s still living in the eighteenth century and bringing shame to all alphas,” Jared said, because he was horny and fucking furious with this fucking prick who’d insulted Jensen. The pull of the full moon did nothing to dampen his emotions.

Weatherly bared his teeth. “You sure this is what you want, puppy?”

Jared grinned. The time when alphas could’ve gotten away with calling him puppy had been over for a few years. Apparently Weatherly hadn’t gotten the memo yet. “Bring it.”

 

 

 

Jensen was this close to leaving. Seriously, the nerve of the guy. He looked for the nearest cooler and got himself another beer. He took a long pull from the bottle, and just when he was debating if he should find Gen or Dani and figure out what that asshole’s deal was, somebody cleared their throat behind him. Jensen turned around to see a guy who was slightly shorter than him, with long brown hair and crinkling blue eyes.

“So, I figured we should talk. After you almost ripped me apart yesterday.”

Jensen felt heat creep up his neck. This might get awkward. Or nasty.

“Sorry?”

The guy laughed. “So am I. How about we start over? I’m Chris, nice to meet you.”

Jensen took the offered hand and grinned back. “Jensen. Glad to see I didn't leave any lasting damage.”

Instead of being offended, Chris smiled. “Nah, it’s all good. A few bruises, because man, you’re good. We should do that again sometime.”

“Which part exactly?” Jensen asked warily.

Chris scrutinized him for a moment. “The fighting, for starters. I love a good sparring match and it’s always good to have new fighters, someone whose tells you can’t recite in your sleep.”

“Sure, why not,” Jensen said carefully. He actually loved sparring but back home the fights he’d gotten into had always been more than just practice. He just didn’t want Chris to think it would be some kind of foreplay.

Chris nodded. “Alright then. You wanna head over to the big fire? We’re gonna start with the music.”

At that, Jensen perked up. “You guys have a band?”

“Nah, we just jam. You play?”

“Yeah, I can play the guitar a bit,” Jensen said.

“You have a good voice too. Any chance you can sing?”

Jensen grinned. “Not in front of people.”

Chris laughed. “Don’t go shy on me now. C’mon, it’s gonna be great.”

Jensen followed Chris to the middle of the clearing where someone had added a lot of wood to the fire, making it blaze high and hot into the sky. A few people had brought guitars, there was a set of drums, and Dani was holding a saxophone. Jensen sat down on a fallen log and Chris pressed a beat-up acoustic guitar into his hand.

“Let’s see what you can do.”

Out of the corners of his eyes, Jensen saw two guys coming out of the forest. One of them was Weatherly and he looked decidedly worse for the wear, dirt in his hair, a nasty scratch across his cheek, and a growing shiner around his left eye. He hurried away quickly without talking to anyone. A tall guy walked up behind him, but instead of leaving, he took a place across from Jensen on the other side of the fire.

His dark shirt stretched tight over his broad shoulders and his hair was all over the place, bangs falling into his face and a leaf sticking out from behind his ear. He’d obviously fought with Weatherly, but Jensen had no idea why, or who he was. What Jensen did know was that the guy was cute as hell, with the hair and the shoulders and the grin on his face as he talked to the guy next to him. Jensen wasn’t sure, but he thought he could spot dimples.

He shook his head and concentrated on the guitar in his lap, plucking the strings. So the guy had fought Weatherly; it was none of his business. Sure, he was glad Weatherly had gotten a good ass-whooping by the looks of it, but if the guy had fought him, he was probably just another macho alpha asshole. No one Jensen wanted to meet.

So he positioned his fingers on the guitar’s neck and started playing the first chord for “The Weight.”

Chris raised his eyebrows in respect and joined him, taking lead in the first verse.

They sang together like they’d been playing for years, with a guy called Steve joining in every once in a while, Dani playing the saxophone whenever it fit the song, and half the group singing along. It was a good night. Jensen hadn't had that much fun in a long time. The beer had loosened him up, and in the darkness of a night only lit up by the fire and a group of welcoming people, he found he didn’t mind singing after all.

All through the night, his eyes were drawn across the fire to the alpha sitting there. The guy smiled at him occasionally, but Jensen tried to ignore it.

He told himself he only noticed the tall alpha because he was sitting across from him. When the guy raised his bottle to toast Jensen across the clearing, Jensen acknowledged him only with a small nod.

He was feeling the buzz from the beer, the fire’s heat, and the music, and he didn’t want some cute macho alpha to ruin his night.

When the event finally cleared up in the early morning hours, Jensen was too drunk and too tired to drive his car home. Beth and Aldis gave him a ride, and when he fell into bed that night, he thought for the first time that there was a pretty good chance his life in Seattle would turn out great.

 

 

 

“I need help.”

Gen didn’t move.

“I know you’re awake,” Jared said. “And I made coffee.”

Gen opened her eyes to thin slits but it wasn’t until she’d located the coffee cup that she actually moved. “‘s too early for your problems, Padalecki.”

Jared ignored her; instead, he lifted her legs up, sat down on the couch, and put her legs in his lap. It was his couch, after all. And if Gen got drunk, decided to ride home with a sober Jared, and crash on his couch, it was only fair that she help Jared with his problems the next morning.

“My couch, my problems.”

Gen groaned, but she sat up and rubbed her eyes. “Okay, what do you need help with?” she asked and took a sip from her coffee.

“Jensen. I wanted to talk to him last night, but he didn’t really acknowledge me, and he doesn't really seem to like alphas and I really like him and I would love to ask him out, but he’s probably gonna say no, and I know I don’t really know him, but fuck, he’s hot and strong and fierce, and shit, I haven’t felt about anyone like this, ever. So what do I do?”

Gen blinked. “Okay. Jensen. I think this requires pancakes.”

“Seriously?”

“Get your ass in the kitchen, Padalecki, and make me some breakfast. Then we can talk.”

Jared sighed, but got up. To be honest, pancakes did sound like a good idea.

 

 

 

Just in time for the food, Chad came stumbling out of his room. He was wearing some sort of skimpy black excuse for briefs and his upper body was littered in slowly-fading bite marks.

“You mind putting something on?” Gen asked with a wrinkled nose.

Chad just spread his arms. “I rode him hard, he put me away wet. Now give me some food, bitches.”

Jared rolled his eyes but gave Chad a plate anyway. “Who did you hook up with anyway? You just disappeared in the middle of the night.”

“Tom,” Chad said dreamily. “Guy pretends to be all polite and proper, but I tell you, once you get him revved up, he’s all alpha.”

Gen clapped slowly. “So we can cross Welling off the list with people with good judgement too. Excellent. I swear, if this continues, you’ll be the only eligible alpha bachelor left,” Gen said, looking at Jared.

Chad smiled. “Don’t worry, I’ll get him too.”

For a moment, Jared and Chad stared at each other in horror.

“I can’t believe you just said that,” Jared whispered.

“I can’t believe it either,” Chad said, clutching his neck.

They made simultaneous gagging noises, and Gen gave a long suffering sigh. “You two are such children.”

Chad just grinned and winked at Jared. They had grown up together and their friendship was more like brotherhood. There was no way they’d ever hook up. They’d kissed once on New Year’s in tenth grade, just to see what it would be like, and it had been so awkward, they’d never thought of it again.

“If you’re done with your prepubescent antics, maybe we can go back to the actual problem?” Gen asked, waving her fork at them before she picked up another piece of her pancake.

“We have a problem?” Chad asked confused.

“Jared has,” Gen said, mouth almost too full to be understood.

Chad swiveled around on the kitchen chair and fixed his eyes on Jared. “Tell me.”

Jared groaned. Chad was a good friend, but when it came to dating advice, he didn’t make the best suggestions.

“Jensen,” Jared said reluctantly.

Chad sighed. “Damn, I wanted to tap that.”

Gen’s “I don’t think you’re his type,” collided with Jared’s “hands off.”

Chad raised his hands placatingly. “Whoa, dude what the fuck?”

Jared groaned and let his head fall into his hands. “I don’t know what’s wrong with me. He’s just so — and I’m just — and then, when I wanted to, I was too late and fucking Weatherly and he was just — I mean I haven’t gotten a boner this quick since high school, and I swear—”

“Okay, easy,” Chad interrupted him. “How about you tell me the story from the beginning? Leaving out details about your dick if possible.”

So Jared told them how Jensen had blown Weatherly off, only to have to send him packing again in the woods.

Chad whistled. “Okay, that’s hot. I would’ve gotten a boner too.”

Jared made a face. “Dude, if my dick is off limits, then so is yours.”

“Okay, okay. Just tell me why you want him so bad anyway. I mean, one night…”

“I actually met him on date night,” Jared said morosely. “I was out, just looking for some company, and he was there and, shit, he was beautiful, Chad, so fucking beautiful. I swear, his fur is like this light brown and he has these golden spots on his back that glint in the moonlight. Seriously, you should’ve seen him, he looked like an enchanted wolf out of a fairytale.”

“Okay, Hansel,” Chad said. “Then what happened?”

“I went after him, of course, and he kept avoiding me, being all playfully aggressive, like he just wanted me to work for it, but then he just went off at me, almost took a bite out of me, and I was startled and then he just ran off. I went after him, but he’d already run into Chris, and man, I’m kinda glad Chris got there first, because Jensen put him on his back in under a minute.”

Gen gave him an amused smile. “And that, of course, confirmed your belief that you should go after him?”

Jared managed to suppress a dreamy sigh, but it was a close call. “You should’ve seen it. Never seen anything like it; he was so graceful, but so strong. Controlled, but powerful, you know? And I just…”

Jared trailed off, but Gen nodded. “I know you want someone physical, someone who can keep up with you.”

“If you tell me again that you knew it would never work out with Sandy and me, then—”

“No, I won’t.” Gen looked at him earnestly. “I didn’t want you to break up, but it wasn’t like it would’ve ever gotten better. You know that.”

Jared did know. He’d still tried to save things with Sandy but it had only delayed the inevitable. When they’d finally broken up, their relationship had been dead for a long time.

“I know. I just wanted it to work.”

“Well, she was your first relationship,” Gen said. “Those always cut the deepest.”

Jared knew she was thinking of her high school sweetheart. They’d dated for two years before she got a scholarship to UDub and he decided to go to art school on the East Coast.

“Anyway,” Gen said breezily. “Jensen.”

Chad nodded. “Jensen. Well, you’ve got my seal of approval. But from the sound of it, you might have a hard time. You would've had a better shot three years ago when you could still pull off the giant puppy. Now…” Chad eyed Jared’s shoulders which had broadened considerably the last two years. “Now, not so much.”

Jared looked at Chad in amazement. “Holy shit, Chad!”

“What?”

“What if I can pull it off?” Jared asked, a plan forming in his mind. “What if I can show him that I’m just this nice, puppy kind of guy, totally harmless and un-alpha-like? I mean, it’s not like I walk around, being all alpha all day anyway, so…”

Jared stopped when both Gen and Chad eyed him with matching expressions of doubt.

“Yeah, but Jay,” Gen started, “you might be a nice and gentle guy most of the time, but when your wolf comes out…”

“Yeah, dude,” Chad said earnestly, “I’ve been living with you for three years, I know how you fuck. And trust me, you’re all alpha there, boy.”

“Not to mention you got a possessive streak a mile wide,” Gen threw in. “I know you mean well and you’re a good guy, but remember how you freaked when that human guy hit on Sandy that one time? Or when she started studying so much with that one guy? Who had a _girlfriend_?”

Chad nodded, obviously remembering Jared pacing the apartment like crazy whenever Sandy went to study group. “Yeah man, your instincts get the better of you, like, all the time.”

“Are you done now?” Jared asked angrily. “I can totally do it!”

“If you like him that much, do you really want a relationship based on lies?” Gen asked.

“I wouldn’t be lying! I’ll just… woo him. So yeah, it’s a bit outdated, but it’s not like it isn’t a time-honored tradition. And I’ll just try to leave my growly side at home. I mean, it’s not like I wanna be a possessive bastard, so you know, this is a good opportunity to work on myself.”

Chad shook his head. “It’s your funeral.”

“Very noble, Jay,” Gen said. “We’ll talk again in two weeks, yeah?”

“I can totally do it,” Jared repeated sulkily.

Gen just laughed and patted him on the head.

“Any chance for more pancakes?” Chad asked and burped loudly.

 

 

 

The semester started, and Jensen almost drowned in his work. Not only did he have to take two classes, figure out the first project for his doctorate — and his advisor, Professor Rhodes wasn’t going easy on him — he also had to TA freshman biology. Fun times.

Despite all the work, Jensen enjoyed his new life. His classes were interesting and challenging, his students were less obnoxious than he’d feared, and his colleagues were nice. There was no discernable difference in how alphas and betas were treated in the workplace, and Jensen was first astounded, then elated, to not to have any of his ideas cross-examined just because he didn’t have a knot.

As promised, Gen and Dani took him out. Their group of friends was fun and integrated Jensen like he’d always been a part of them. Gen told him he really had to meet Jared, who was Chad’s roommate and _really just such a sweet guy_ , but unfortunately he had to work most nights on the weekend.

When an alpha hit on him, it was okay. There were still innuendos, but it was normal flirting, not the usual you-look-like-you’re-just-dying-to-be-knotted crap. Jensen didn’t take any of them up on their offers, but he didn’t feel like he had to be constantly on guard either. In fact, for the first time in his life, he thought that finding an alpha to mate with was a realistic possibility after all.

“So,” Chris said, after he’d watched Jensen send the second guy of the night packing with a friendly smile. “Any particular reason why you don’t want any of them?”

Jensen took a sip from his beer. “Taking it slow, I guess. Testing the waters.”

Chris nodded. “I could help out with that. If you want.”

Jensen looked at Chris, into his open and honest eyes, then looked over at Dani. “Look, I don’t know what you guys have going on…”

Chris grinned. “If you come home with us, you can find out.”

Jensen laughed, but shook his head. “It’s a tempting offer.” And it was. Chris was good looking, topped of with that low and smooth voice of his, and while Jensen had never hooked up with another beta, he could appreciate Dani’s sensual beauty. And it seemed that here, betas hooking up with betas wasn’t frowned upon like it had been in Jensen’s old pack.

“But I think I’m becoming friends with all you guys and I don’t know if I want to do the whole screwing around with friends thing.” Jensen shrugged apologetically.

He’d done the hooking-up-with-friends thing with humans at home and, in his experience, it either led to heartbreak or awkwardness. He wasn’t going to rain on his own parade, not when he’d somehow stumbled into this great group of people who’d decided to become his friends.

Chris nodded. “Alright. You’re gonna wonder though.”

Jensen grinned and figured he could throw Chris a bone. He shamelessly looked him up and down. With his strong arms and twinkling blue eyes, Jensen thought maybe Chris was right.

“Maybe,” he admitted and Chris laughed. They walked home together, talking about smoothie flavors and debating the merits of a new Superman movie.

 

 

 

Almost hooking up with Chris reminded Jensen that he did like to spend the night with someone occasionally. So he asked Dani for Chad’s number.

He’d met Chad the weekend before, a blond beta who’d given Jensen an overview of the sexual skills of most of the pack’s alphas. Apparently Chad was a big fan of “trying out the merchandise,” as he called it. Jensen decided not to judge. Instead, he utilized Chad’s expertise and asked him for the nicest gay clubs in town. While Chad was a self-proclaimed lover of knot, he was apparently an equal opportunist, hooking up with alphas, betas, and humans alike.

“I’m like real live porn,” Chad had told him after his fifth shot. “You can think about it, I’ve probably done it. Except bondage. ‘Cause I get cramps, you know.”

Muscle cramps were actually a well known phenomenon in male betas, so Jensen recommended magnesium. Chad declared they were now beta-secret buddies and insisted on going with Jensen when he went out the next weekend. Chad spend the night getting drooled over on the dance floor and Jensen went home with a tall econ student who looked like the epitome of a toppy-top. Human hook ups were what he knew — safe and uncomplicated. Sure, he wondered what a knot would feel like, but in his old pack there hadn’t been a single alpha he’d trusted with that. Not even the guy he dated. Hopefully, he’d find one here.

He hadn’t forgotten about the alpha from the camp fire, but he didn’t know the guy’s name, and anyway, he didn’t want to get involved with some macho alpha. So it was rather inconvenient that the guy started popping up in his thoughts, and there were a few times on campus he thought he spotted that shaggy head of hair or those broad shoulders.

 

 

 

The weeks were flying by, and by the time his first test was just around the corner, his little apartment still didn’t have more furniture than a bed, a dresser, and two barstools at the kitchenette counter. So Jensen filled his thermos with coffee and made his way to the library. He prefered to study at night, so his only option was the undergrad library and that place was so big, Jensen didn’t even know where to start. He wandered the rooms for a while, but he was a little — okay, maybe a lot — picky about a good study environment and nothing really seemed to fit. The big reading rooms were generally too loud — despite it being a silent study area, people still whispered, clacked away on their keyboards too loudly, slurped their drinks, or rustled the packaging of their snacks.

Jensen found a moderately quiet corner, but there was still a lot of foot traffic because it was on the way to the bathrooms. It wasn’t ideal, but he made it work. He decided he might have to find someone who could recommend him a quiet study spot, though.

His fellow grad students — there were five others in the program with him, three werewolves and two humans — weren’t really helpful. They either weren’t bothered by the noise or prefered to study at home. When he complained to Gen about it a few days later during a lunch together in a little sandwich place on campus, she eyed him calculatingly, before smiling openly. The look was gone so quickly Jensen wasn’t sure it had actually been there.

“You should ask Jared,” Gen said. “He knows the library like the back of his hand.”

“Who’s Jared?”

“He’s pack,” Gen said, maybe a tad too casually, picking a piece of lettuce off her sandwich paper. “The guy I told you about when we went out? He works at the library and, since he lives with Chad, there’s no way he can study at home, so you know. If you want a quiet study spot, you should ask him.”

Jensen tried to remember if he’d met a ‘were called Jared, but he was drawing a blank. “I don’t think I’ve met him. Was he at the bonfire?”

Gen nodded. “Yeah, he was there. Maybe you didn’t run into each other. Anyway, I know he works tonight; he usually has the night shift. You’ll find him at the help desk, just ask for Jared. He’s a nice guy, he’d love to help you out.”

Jensen thanked her before gathering up his stuff. He had class in ten minutes. Gen smiled and waved in goodbye, but Jensen couldn’t shake the feeling that something about the whole conversation had been weird.

 

 

 

The library was bustling with activity and Jensen was already pissed off by all the background noise. He made his way to the big help desk where numerous students were working and studying.

A petite blonde looked up at him with a smile. “Hi. Can I help you?”

“Yeah, actually. I’m looking for Jared. He’s supposed to work here?”

The blonde’s smile turned knowing. “Hey Jared,” she called over her shoulder. “There’s a guy here to see you. A cute guy.”

Jensen felt heat creep up his cheeks and he looked up just in time to see a tall and broad-shouldered guy come over from the other side of the desk. He was smiling, dimples denting his cheeks.

“Hi, Jensen. What are you doing here?”

It was the guy from the bonfire. In the harsh light of the library he looked younger and more like a cute puppy than arrogant alpha, but that could just be the dimples’ influence.

“Hi,” Jensen said belatedly, realizing Jared had asked him a question. “Erm, Gen told me to come see you, said you know the library like the back of your hand.”

Jared looked surprised for a moment, then that wide smile was back. “Yeah, anything you need.”

That sentence could have carried a lot of innuendo, and coming from an alpha, Jensen kind of expected it, but Jared’s face held nothing but guileless innocence.

“I’m gonna go back to doing my thing,” the blonde said with a wink and sat back down at her station.

Jared seemed startled that she was still there but then he shook it off and walked out of the desk area to Jensen.

“So,” he prompted.

“Okay, yeah. So I really like to study in peace and quiet, but I haven’t found a good spot so far and Gen told me you might be able to help?”

Jared’s face lit up like a Christmas tree. “Definitely. I mean, I know exactly what you mean. With the work-study thing, I kinda had to get used to it, but I totally understand what you mean.”

Jensen smiled in amusement. He couldn’t help it; Jared was just so adorably excited. And Jensen wasn’t exactly sure how he’d reached the conclusion that this six-foot-four mountain of an alpha was adorable, but it was a safe bet the dimples were involved.

Jared led him towards the back of the building, through some rarely used looking corridors until they reached a little staircase.

“Perfect place to kill somebody,” Jensen murmured, making Jared laugh.

“So,” Jared asked when they reached the second floor, “what are you studying for anyway?”

“Genetics exam.”

“Oh, cool. Human or werewolf?”

“I’m in Professor Rhodes’ lycanthropy program.”

Jared looked back at him while leading him through the bookracks. “That’s awesome. Professor Rhodes is really great.”

“You know her?” Jensen asked, wondering if Jared was affiliated with the program.

“Well, yeah. From pack stuff only though. I’m an engineering major.”

Jensen waited for the typical alpha bragging about being in a prestigious program that was sure to follow, but Jared stayed quiet.

Jensen kept following Jared down the narrow aisle between the high shelves, but it just led to another shelf right in front of them.

“Um, Jared, are you sure—”

“Yes, trust me,” Jared said, took Jensen’s hand, and dragged him a few feet to the left where a gap between two shelves led to a little corner, furnished with a big couch, two armchairs, and a table.

“Wow.”

“Yeah.” Jared grinned brightly. “Found it last year. I think they moved the shelves during the renovation and forgot to put them back. Since this is Ancient Lit, the originals section, no one comes here anyway. I swear, this spot saved me last year.”

Jensen was aware of Jared’s big hand still gripping his own and he looked down, because it couldn’t be as big as it felt. Except it was.

Jared let go of him suddenly and gave him an apologetic smile. “Sorry about that. But yeah, welcome to the library’s best study spot. Quiet, there’s a power outlet, and if you go three shelves that way, you come to the restrooms.”

“Thanks,” Jensen said. “For sharing with me.” He was still reeling from the fact that Jared had just casually apologized.

Jared shrugged his shoulder. “I work at the library and I can study if no one bugs me, so I don’t need it anymore. Much.” There was a quick pause, and Jared looked at him hesitantly. “I might be up here occasionally, if you don’t mind.”

“Dude, no. I mean this is your find.”

Jared positively beamed at him, and wow, how was Jensen not getting used to those dimples?

“Then I’ll see you around, I guess,” Jared said and left.

Jensen took a deep breath and looked around his little corner of heaven. He cocked his head and listened, but unless he accessed his wolf senses — which he kept dormant in most of his day to day life — he couldn’t hear more than a faint rustling.

 

 

 

Jared was right; the new spot was a life saver. It was Jensen’s own fault that, a few days later, he sat there, stomach grumbling. Somehow between classes and grading quizzes, he’d forgotten to eat. Now he’d have to go downstair and hope there were still some sandwiches left. It was almost midnight, after all.

He passed the Help Desk and Jared was at his usual spot. They nodded and smiled at each other whenever Jensen came in but Jared never tried to make more than casual small talk. It was good. It was… well, it was a bit surprising. Jensen wasn’t vain, but he knew that being a male beta gave him a certain aura of rarity that few alphas he’d met had been able to resist. Since Jared lived with Chad, maybe he was used to it. Less than five percent of male werewolves these days were born as betas, a much lower number than a few hundred years ago, if the sources could be believed.

It was the focus point of Professor Rhodes’ program, and while Jensen was more interested in cracking the idiosyncrasies of male beta DNA for medical purposes, his research intersected with the rest of the program enough that he dealt with his own biological quirk almost constantly.

In the beginning, he’d thought it might be a problem, but it wasn’t. He never got the feeling he was different, weird or less in any way. No one implied he was destined to be a breeding machine or asked why he wasn’t mated yet.

Male fertility wasn’t discussed as means to procreate, but rather as a piece of a puzzle that could aid in curing so many diseases and help them understand the fluidity of sex and gender.

In short, his fear of being uncomfortable in the program had been completely unfounded.

Jensen got the last turkey sandwich, and on his way back, he smiled at Jared again. Jared smiled back.

“You’re going to pull an all-nighter?”

Jensen sighed. “Yeah. I have to write up a lab report, including all the research on the topic the last five years.”

Jared flinched in sympathy. “Ouch.”

“Yeah. I better get going, so…” Jensen turned towards the back and Jared nodded hastily.

“Of course, yeah. Good luck, man.”

And Jensen trudged back to his study corner.

He only noticed how much time had passed when the letters on his computer started swimming in front of his eyes. Fuck. He needed a break.

He’d minimized the JSTOR tab and was staring unseeingly at his desktop when he heard someone walking through the stacks, coming closer. He sniffed the air, an instinctual reaction, and while he could smell ‘were approaching, it was overpowered by the smell of coffee.

A few seconds later, Jared appeared between the stacks, gently knocking against the side of one of the shelves.

“Mind if I come in?”

He was holding two cups of coffee and looking at Jensen with a hopeful smile.

Jensen nodded sagely. “The entrance fee is one cup of coffee.”

With a grin, Jared stepped closer and held out one of the cups to Jensen. “Good thing I came prepared.”

Jensen reached for the coffee, drinking immediately, even though it was hot and he risked burning his tongue. Whatever. He’d heal quickly and instant caffeine intake at this point was more important than a few singed taste buds.

“You’re my hero,” he said around the coffee cup and Jared just kept on smiling.

“It’s the only downside,” Jared said, gesturing around him. “The place is great, but getting up for a late night snack…”

“Then what brought you up here?” Jensen asked.

Jared shrugged his shoulder. “Needed to stretch my legs,” he said, “and I’ve found walking up a flight of stairs works pretty well for that.”

“Huh.”

They were quiet for a while, just sipping coffee in companionable silence.

“So,” Jared finally said, “research going well?”

Jensen looked at his computer, eyeing the minimized JSTOR tab accusingly. “There’s too much shit out there. I still have the last three years to look at it.”

Jared chewed on his lower lip, then he got up. “Well, then I’ll leave you too it.”

Jensen looked up, a bit surprised. “Yeah okay. Thanks for the coffee.”

The blinding smile was back. “No problem.”

Jensen stayed in the library until four AM before stumbling out. Jared wasn’t at the desk anymore. When he asked for him, a guy told him Jared’s shift had been over since two.

That meant that Jared hadn’t been stretching his legs so much as visiting Jensen when he was done with work, but Jensen was bone tired, his eyes hurt, and he was already fantasizing about his bed, so he had no energy to analyze what that meant.

He stumbled home, glad he only lived a short walk from the library, and fell down on his mattress fully clothed.

 

 

 

Life didn’t get easier. Classes were hard and the one year break he’d taken from college to work wasn’t helping with getting back into the rhythm of studying and writing papers. In the weeks leading up to the midterms, Professor Rhodes asked if he could tutor a few of the students. Jensen agreed because the department would pay him and he needed the money.

He’d saved up a good amount of money working as a lab assistant last year and he had a scholarship that covered tuition and housing. He still had to eat and, since he didn’t have a lot of time to cook, he ate out a lot, which wasn’t really good for his account balance. Plus, he’d needed a new laptop for college and just general stuff for his new place.

Not that he was ever there; he really just slept and showered in his apartment. The rest of his day he spent in the Biology building or in the library. He’d even slept there on one memorable occasion, only waking up when Alona — the petite blonde from the help desk — shook him.

She looked at Jensen worriedly. “Are you okay?”

Jensen rubbed his eyes. “Sure yeah. What? I mean, why?” He waved around helplessly and sat up.

“No one from the nightshift saw you leave, so I thought I’d check on you.”

Jensen’s brain was still working at snail’s pace so he just managed to get out a rather ineloquent “huh?”

Alona patted his head. “Jared asked us to keep an eye on you ever since you almost moved in here. Seriously Jensen, studying is important but you can’t live here.”

Jensen rubbed his face and nodded. After gathering all his stuff, he followed Alona downstairs. He needed to get home and change his clothes. And shower. It only occurred to him when he was halfway across campus that it was kind of weird that Jared made his co-workers look out for him. Cute, but weird.

Jared continued to stop by during Jensen’s study sessions. He brought coffee and occasionally a snack, and while Jensen loved it, he protested after a few times.

“At least let me give you money!”

Jared snorted. “Dude, I work here. I get an incredible discount. And if they don’t sell all the sandwiches and baked goods, the employees can take them home, so really, don’t worry about it.”

Jensen still didn’t like it, didn’t want to owe Jared anything — he didn’t like owing anyone really, too often it was connected with expectations Jensen didn’t want to fulfill — so he vowed to prepare better. His worry was probably unfounded; Jared had been nothing but nice and kind, and since he’d never tried to hit on Jensen in any way — the thought did sting, surprisingly — maybe they could become friends. They talked freely, laughed about the same things. It would be easy to be friends with Jared. Jensen just wasn’t sure if Jared being easy on the eyes would be a perk or a problem. To veer them more into the friends territory Jared seemed to be angling for, the next time Jared stopped by Jensen offered him Cheetos in exchange for coffee.

Jared’s face lit up like Christmas had come early. Jensen smiled back and burrowed back into the armchair. He’d forgotten his jacket in the research lab and he was only wearing a thin henley. The library tended to be rather cool.

Somehow, Jared noticed it instantly. “Jensen, are you cold?”

“It’s okay.”

“No way,” Jared said decidedly and started pulling his hoodie off. “You can’t think if you’re cold.”

“But then you’ll be cold,” Jensen argued, because Jared was just wearing a t-shirt, and while the hoodie looked incredibly warm and tempting, Jensen couldn’t accept that.

Jared huffed. “Dude, I’m always warm. Besides, my shift is over and it’s like a two minute jog to my apartment. Keep the hoodie, okay?”

Sceptically, Jensen accepted the hoodie. Jared was right, of course, typically werewolves ran a few degrees higher than humans, alphas sometimes even more. Despite that, Jensen still got cold surprisingly easily. He carefully pulled the hoodie on, and for a second, Jared stared at him, then his lips pulled apart in a smile that looked a little stiff.

“Great. Good. Awesome. Just, er, bring it with you next time, I’m sure I’ll be here.” Then he turned around and left.

Well, that was weird. Jensen took a breath and got an intense whiff of Jared. It was a good scent, mellow and soothing. It had a bit of spice to it, but mostly it was just really comforting and Jensen had no intention of analyzing Jared’s scent any closer. He just snuggled into the large hoodie — which no one was there to see, so nothing could be proven — and turned back to the stack of quizzes he’d brought with him to grade. He only noticed when he was done how the time had flown by.

When Jensen was walking home, still wearing Jared’s hoodie, it suddenly occurred to him that maybe Jared was hitting on him after all. Well, to be fair, it was actually more of a tame version of old-fashioned courting — being attentive, bringing goods and offerings. Why Jared would do that, Jensen had no idea, though.

That kind of wooing had been done in a time where betas had still enjoyed a better standing in society and alphas had had to work for their favor. When alpha supremacy had risen, wooing had fallen out of style, because betas weren’t given much of a choice on who to marry. Now that betas had fought for equality, wooing hadn’t made a comeback because people just dated. Granted, Jensen had to admit it was kind of nice. Awkward and unusual, sure, but nice. If that was the intention behind it. If it was, Jared was definitely trying to be subtle and not pressure Jensen. It was a nice change to the alpha come-on’s Jensen had experienced back home, but Jensen wasn’t sure how to feel about it. Yes, sometimes he liked to be coddled, but if he ever settled down, he wanted a partner who would be his equal.

But who still did the ancient wooing rituals anyway? Maybe Jensen was wrong after all. Maybe Jared just wanted to be friends.

Jensen thought back to the first time he’d met him, the instant attraction that had never really gone away, and Jared’s sweet behavior ever since. If Jared was interested, Jensen thought that wouldn’t be the worst thing. Jared would respect Jensen. They got along well and shared enough common interests. Jensen might even have a tiny crush on Jared. But then why would Jared not just ask him out? Jensen wondered if he was reading too much into it and Jared just wanted to be genuinely nice to him.

When Jensen finally reached his small, empty apartment, he had to shake his head at himself. There were a lot of if’s and maybe’s in his thoughts, and it wasn’t like he didn’t have a huge pile of work to focus on.

 

 

 

The next day, Jensen forgot the hoodie at home. He’d actually slept in it — the heating in his apartment was crap and the days had started getting colder — and it had been the best night’s sleep he’d had in a long time. Jared didn’t seem perturbed by not getting his hoodie back immediately and told Jensen not to sweat it.

Jensen did return the hoodie eventually; he even washed it. But then again, with the amount of time he’d worn the hoodie at home, it had reeked of him. He didn’t need Jared to know how much time Jensen had spent with that hoodie. Not if things were going nowhere between them. Jensen had subtly tried to see what was what, but Jared never reacted to any innuendo. Maybe Jared really wasn’t interested and Jensen should just drop the pointless angsting.

 

 

 

When Chad came home, Jared was lying on the couch, his hoodie thrown over his face. He kept still, hoping Chad would ignore him. Jared heard him walk by, almost let out a relieved breath, but then Chad stopped and came back.

“What are you doing?”

“Lying here?” It came out more as a question.

“Why is there a hoodie over your face?”

Before Jared could answer, Chad yanked the hoodie off. “Huh. I thought maybe your face had been disfigured or overrun by pimples.”

“Your face is a pimple,” Jared said sullenly, grabbing for the hoodie, but Chad stepped back, pulling the hoodie out of reach.

The movement must have given him a whiff of the scent, because Chad eyed the piece of clothing suspiciously and sniffed at it.

Jared growled. While the hoodie had clearly been washed recently, it still smelled like Jensen. That was Jensen’s scent on there, mixed with Jared’s own, and it was for Jared, dammit, and Chad had no business touching it, and—

“Why does your hoodie smell like Jensen?” Chad asked slowly.

Jared stood up. “Give it back.”

Chad moved, bringing the couch between him and Jared. “Why does your hoodie smell like Jensen?” he repeated, enunciating every word.

Jared snarled and lunged. Chad fled into their little kitchen, skidding behind the table, brandishing the hoodie like a conquered flag. Jared just jumped over the table, taking Chad down roughly on the kitchen floor.

“Dude,” Chad said, sounding rather winded, “tell me again how you’re gonna tone down the alpha?”

Fuck. Jared let his head fall down on Chad’s shoulder, unable to care about the fact that he was probably squishing Chad half to death.

“I’m hopeless, aren’t I?” he asked.

Chad just patted his back.

 

 

 

 

 

 


	2. Chapter 2

Jared continued to bring Jensen coffee and snacks. On one memorable occasion he even brought a pizza, and Jensen’s expression of pure bliss when he’d seen it… Jared only remembered that when he was in the privacy of his own bedroom, otherwise he’d just embarrass himself.  
  
Jensen always thanked him, but he started bringing his own things to the library, sharing them with Jared. He brought a lot of gummies, which Jared loved, and he even shared some homemade brownies with Jared. It was a toss up if he just wanted to be nice or not feel indebted. Either way, Jared couldn’t stop. He still hadn’t figured out how to take the next step, and until then, he was stuck in the bringing-home-the-offerings phase.  
  
In the beginning, he’d had the slight hope that, maybe over time, his stupid infatuation would fade. Obviously, that had never happened. Jensen was still as ridiculously pretty as the first time Jared had seen him, and even after weeks of staring at his face, Jared managed to discover new freckles.  
  
He also started to get to know Jensen. They never talked long, because Jensen had a ton of work and it wasn’t as if Jared didn’t have to study or have papers to write. When they did talk, though, it was perfect. Jensen was smart, witty, and sarcastic. He let Jared ramble on with this indulgent smile on his lips, and every once in a while he’d offer up something in return — his favorite band, the time he’d snuck in to see Jurassic Park at the movies because he didn’t have enough money to buy a ticket and his parents wouldn’t pay for it, or that he liked turkey sandwiches better than ham. They were little details, but they formed a picture of Jensen that Jared couldn’t get out of his head. He had no idea how, but he needed to step up his game.  
  
  
  
  
“Friday night is karaoke.”  
  
Jensen nodded absently, green pen gliding over an exam. He didn’t like to use red to grade, said it looked too harsh and accusing.  
  
Jared took a deep breath. “Seriously, man, you can’t live in this library. You should go out with us.” _With me_ was what he really wanted to say, but he didn’t think they were quite there yet. Actually, he had no idea where they were, but he was erring on the side of caution. “I know you can sing,” he added when Jensen didn’t look up.  
  
“What?” Jensen asked, finally raising his head. “Sorry, sometimes it’s hard to figure out whether they understood anything at all or were just trying to bullshit their way through the answer.”  
  
Jared suppressed a growl. He had a rather irrational hatred for all those stupid students who made Jensen spend more time with their quizzes than he had to. Why couldn’t they just all study and have straight A’s?  
  
“We’re going to Fuzzy’s, karaoke night. I know you can sing, and if you stay away long enough, Gen and Dani will hunt you down anyway.”  
  
So Jared was not above threatening Jensen with overbearing friends. Desperate times and all that.  
  
“Okay. You’re right, I really need a break. And after the discussion panel Friday afternoon, I’m free, so yeah. Karaoke. Should be fun.”  
  
Jared realized too late that he was smiling like an idiot, but Jensen was smiling too, so he hoped it was okay. Jensen had been taking about the Annual Lycanthropic Genetics Conference a lot lately, not that Jared minded. Watching Jensen speak passionately about his work was a thing of beauty, but it hadn’t given Jensen much time to focus on anything else.  
  
“So you're not gonna go to the conference on Saturday?”  
  
Jensen shook his head. “Saturday focuses mostly on reproductive biology, which is not really my area.”  
  
Jared almost couldn’t believe his luck. “Great. Do you know where Fuzzy’s is?”  
  
To Jared’s absolute delight, Jensen had no clue. That obviously meant Jared had to come pick Jensen up and show him the way, and Jensen didn’t have a problem with that at all. Jared was in heaven. He’d see where Jensen lived, get to sneakily show off his alpha prowess by showing Jensen the way — and okay yes, knowing the way to Fuzzy’s was not a huge accomplishment, but Jared’s wolf had been clamoring at him to step up his courting game _somehow_ , so Jared couldn’t be picky here — and most importantly, he’d spend some more time alone with Jensen outside this library.  
  
  
  
  
Friday night, Jared was almost late. First, his meeting for a group project had run long, then he’d debated what to wear for an eternity and Chad had been no help at all. He’d mocked Jared freaking out about whether to wear a black v-neck or a dark blue round collar and hadn’t even torn his eyes away from his phone long enough to properly look.  
  
“What the fuck is so important, fucker?” Jared snapped at him.  
  
“Dude, it’s not easy juggling Tindr and Grindr at the same time, okay?” Chad said.  
  
“Why are you juggling that at all?” Jared asked, eying a grey Henley.  
  
Chad sighed. “Because I’m having a two week dry spell and the dick will not abide.”  
  
Jared closed his eyes and counted to three. That usually helped. “Just help me pick a fucking shirt, asshole.”  
  
With a long-suffering sigh, Chad got up and rooted around in Jared’s closet until he emerged triumphantly with an old Star Wars t-shirt.  
  
“Are you serious?”  
  
“Dude, there’s nothing that’ll make you look more harmless than R2D2.”  
  
Jared shook his head. “It’s too small.”  
  
“There is no such thing as a too-small shirt,” Chad said sagely. “There’s only the question of how much it will show off your biceps.”  
  
In times like these, there was no arguing with Chad. Besides, if Jared was honest with himself, he desperately wanted to impress Jensen somehow. And if it was showing off his arms in a tight shirt, well, he was desperate enough to take what he could get.  
  
  
  
  
When Jared picked Jensen up fifteen minutes later, and Jensen’s face lit up when he saw the shirt, Jared decided to make Chad breakfast the next morning.  
  
“I haven’t watched Star Wars in forever,” Jensen said wistfully, looking at Jared’s shirt.  
  
“What?” Jared didn’t have to fake the outrage. “You need to have a Star Wars marathon at least once a year.”  
  
“I would, but I forgot my DVDs at home.”  
  
Jared thanked George Lucas, Hollywood, and the gods of Sci-Fi. “You should come over. I have them on Blu-Ray. We can do a marathon.” Jared hoped he came across as casual.  
  
Jensen smiled. “That’d be great.”  
  
For this, Chad deserved blueberry chocolate-chip pancakes.  
  
“Although it would be even better if we could find some old VHS tapes,” Jensen said thoughtfully.  
  
“What? Why?”  
  
“Dude,” Jensen scoffed. “Han shot first.”  
  
If Jared hadn’t been in love before, he certainly was now. He needed a drink.  
  
  
Fuzzy’s was crowded and dark. Predictably, Danni and Gen were thrilled Jensen had come out with them, but after conspiratorially winking at Jared, they didn’t drag Jensen away with them. Instead, they made an effort to push Jared and Jensen together.  
  
Gen brought pitcher after pitcher of beer, and Jared was buzzed pretty soon. Jensen wasn’t doing any better, and it seemed like he was smiling constantly now, always laughing and throwing his head back. Jared didn’t know how he was supposed to deal.  
  
He was so enraptured by Jensen that he completely missed the next story Dani told, until everybody broke out in laughter and Jensen actually collapsed into his side.  
  
“Dude,” he wheezed, “is she always like this?”  
  
“Yeah. Dani will rule the world one day, we all know it,” Jared said, trying not to grab Jensen tight and drag him off into the nearest secluded corner. Jensen was _right there_ , curled into Jared’s side, and it was the closest they’d ever been.  
  
“I believe it,” Jensen mumbled, then he turned and blinked up at Jared. His eyes were slightly unfocused, he was definitely more than tipsy, and, suddenly, there was something in the air between them.  
  
Jared’s fingers were itching to touch and his wolf was clawing under his skin, wanting to claim and fuck and possess.  
  
“Jared,” Jensen said, inching closer, “I don’t know what—”  
  
Before Jensen could finish his sentence, Chad crashed into the table with a tray filled with shots.  
  
“Tequila, bitches!”  
  
Jared wanted to strangle him. Jensen drew back as if he suddenly needed to get away and studiously looked at the tequila, taking a glass.  
  
“To only two more weeks of school before we have four days of freedom.”  
  
Chad took two glasses. “Amen.”  
  
Reaching for a glass, Jared tried to catch Jensen’s eye, but he had turned to Dani and was asking her something. Alright. They’d need to have a talk later. Jared downed the tequila, hoping it would calm his nerves.  
  
He felt a kick to his leg and looked up to see Gen looking at him expectantly. Jared shrugged his shoulders in a “I don’t know what’s going on” way. Gen rolled her eyes, mouthed “men” and made shooing motions with her hands towards Jensen.  
  
Jared drew a deep breath and was leaning towards Jensen to ask him to go outside when Jensen got up and announced he had to go to the bathroom. When he was out of earshot, Jared scooted over to Gen.  
  
“He looked like he was going to kiss me, right?” he asked desperately. “That didn’t happen in my head?”  
  
“Well, it looked like he wanted to do something,” Gen said. “You definitely need to talk to him. Or kiss him. You know. Have wild passionate sex between the dumpsters in the back alley.”  
  
“Eww, thanks for that image.”  
  
Chad appeared behind him, throwing his arms around them. “Don’t knock the back alley, it’s a classic. Speaking of, anybody seen Welling?”  
  
Jared just focused on the direction the bathrooms were in. He needed to talk to Jensen.  
  
  
  
  
He was briefly distracted when Alona showed up and invited him to take a shot to celebrate that they were both off work tonight. After Alona went back to her group, Dani took the spot next to him.  
  
“Any reason you can give me why Jensen is over there, flirting with an old dude?”  
  
“What?” Jared almost choked on his beer.  
  
He frantically searched the room until he found Jensen chatting animatedly with a guy at the end of the bar. Over the noise of some poor soul belting out an old Britney hit, Jared couldn’t even hear what they were talking about.  
  
The guy was classic alpha material, broad shoulders and ruggedly handsome, and definitely a little bit older than a typical college student. Jared watched as he turned to the bartender and ordered two beers, and to his horror, Jensen took the beer with a smile.  
  
“I’m not sure what’s happening there,” Dani said, “but you better go over there and tell Jensen he has to sing the Time Warp with all of us, right now. It’s a _pack_ thing.”  
  
“Dani, I could kiss you.”  
  
Dani snorted. “You can make it up to me by letting me watch as soon as you get him.”  
  
Jared turned to glare at her, but Dani was smirking in a decidedly unimpressed fashion. So instead of growling, Jared said, “thanks for being on my side.”  
  
Dani smiled indulgently. “I’m not on your side, I’m on both your sides. You’re a catch, Jared, and you deserve someone like Jensen. Now, go get you man!”  
  
Jared took a deep breath and nodded. Nothing like butting in when an alpha was hitting on a beta. Not that Jared was afraid of the confrontation, but he’d rather not fight in front of Jensen. But the guy was leaning in close now and Jensen was not pushing him away, so Jared needed to get his ass in gear.  
  
  
  
  
“And you really think the gamma ray experiments will give you new insight?” Jensen asked, sceptically, but he couldn’t keep from smiling. Talking to Olsson one-on-one was an exciting opportunity.  
  
Professor Olsson was one of the leading scientists working on the lycanthropic gene sequence, focusing on regeneration versus aging.  
  
Olsson nodded and clinked their beer glasses together. “To discovery,” he said. “And yes, I do. Not with high level exposure, since the damage and subsequent repair happens too quickly, but prolonged low level exposure leads to a more drastic destruction, and in turn a slower regeneration. The sequences we were able to break down have been highly informative.”  
  
Jensen nodded. It made sense, really.  
  
“And your focus was—” Olsson started to ask, but suddenly Jared was there, smiling brightly and tugging on Jensen’s arm. Shit.  
  
“C’mon, the girls got us the next song. You have to sing with us.”  
  
“Jared—” Jensen started to protest because it wasn’t like he didn’t want to sing with them, but he didn’t want to leave his conversation with Professor Olsson either, and for a moment back there, things had between awkward between them. At least Jensen had thought so; he didn’t know what Jared thought about it.  
  
Olsson was no help, though; he just smiled at him and said, “Go on. You should celebrate with your friends. Besides, I’d love to hear you sing.”  
  
For a moment, Jensen was startled. Had Olsson just flirted with him? But then Jared dragged him away, up onto the stage, and the first chords to Time Warp sounded from the speakers. Jared pressed into his side, Dani held the mic in front of their face, and Jensen started to sing.  
  
His body was moving on autopilot while his mind could only focus on where he was pressed against Jared. Jared, who was the nicest and sweetest alpha he’d ever met. Who loved candy like a little kid, but could talk politics and werewolf issues like the best of them. Who was tall and good looking, with killer shoulders and a sunshine smile. He was everything Jensen would have wanted in an alpha if he’d ever let himself really think about it. Except that he had no idea if Jared liked him. Had he resorted to old-fashioned wooing techniques, for some unfathomable reason, or was that just wishful thinking on Jensen’s part? Apart from bringing Jensen food, he’d never given any indication he was interested in Jensen. Just like before, when Jensen thought maybe they were having a moment, when they apparently weren’t. So Jared wasn’t interested. Jensen tried to ignore the pang of disappointment.  
  
The song came to an end and he smiled hesitantly at Jared, who just grinned back at him like nothing was out of the ordinary. Okay, that was okay. Jensen looked out into the cheering crowd and saw Olsson at the bar. Well, he was definitely interested, nice, and sophisticated. Why not?  
  
Through the buzzing of the alcohol, Jensen realized he was maybe doing this out of spite and a hurt ego, but then he saw Jared already chatting to Gen again, completely engrossed in their discussion, and he turned back towards the bar.  
  
  
  
  
Olsson bought Jensen another beer and smiled at him. “Call me Ty.”  
  
Jensen couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow.  
  
Ty shrugged. “I like you. You’re intelligent and sharp, you have an amazing voice, and well, you’re very attractive. Why are you surprised?”  
  
“You’re a professor,” Jensen said. “I’m a grad student. This is all very May-December, and not really professional.”  
  
Ty laughed. “I’m not _your_ professor. And I’m not that old, you know.”  
  
Ty’s laugh was infectious, so Jensen smiled. “I know. It’s the beard.”  
  
“I’ve been told it makes me look ruggedly handsome.”  
  
Emboldened by the beer and Ty’s easy-going manner, Jensen reached up and let his hand run along his beard. “I don’t know. It does make you look a bit… distinguished.”  
  
Ty took his hand and kissed his knuckles. “If you like that.”  
  
Somewhere behind them a glass shattered and someone cursed loudly, but Jensen was too focused on how Ty held his hand to pay any attention. He’d never felt so unthreatened by an alpha openly hitting on him. Still. Ty was holding his hand in a rather possessive hold. Jensen tugged his hand back.  
  
Realizing that he’d crossed a line, Ty drew back.  
  
“I’ll be in town for a while,” he said. “Would you like to have dinner with me next week?”  
  
Jensen hesitated. Ty was nice and intelligent, but he was a professor. An alpha.  
  
“Just dinner,” Ty said.  
  
Drawing a deep breath, Jensen thought that maybe he’d found an alpha who wasn’t an asshole knothead. _You already have_ , a nasty voice in his mind said, and Jensen pushed thoughts of Jared away.  
  
“Just dinner,” he repeated, and Ty smiled.  
  
“Great. Let me give you my number.”  
  
  
  
  
On their way back to campus, Jared was unusually quiet. Jensen had become used to his constant chatter, how he animatedly talked with hands and feet, how it was never too long before he smiled. Maybe Jared was tired. They’d ended up at small diner after the bar had closed, Ty accompanying Jensen, Gen, Aldis, Beth, and Jared. Dani had disappeared after a call from Chris, and somewhere along the line they’d lost Chad. Aldis and Beth were pretty wrapped up in each other — they had just made up, _again_ — so Ty was entertaining them with funny stories from the conference circus. He was a good storyteller, but after a while Jensen got a little annoyed with the self-assurance he talked with that reeked too much of “I’m alpha, I talk.”  
  
From the way Jared was ripping up a napkin into tiny pieces, he was either pissed or bored. Jensen wondered why he didn’t say anything though. Just because Ty was older didn’t mean Jared had to defer to him. But Jensen had already noticed that Jared tended to be rather non-territorial and non-confrontational, contrary to what Jensen had thought when he’d first seen Jared. It was a nice change from the usual alpha behavior, but there was nothing wrong with calling people out on their shit. Since Jared and Gen didn’t say anything, he was the one to cut Ty off in a friendly manner and steer the conversation towards more inclusive topics.  
  
Gen said she was tired shortly after and they left. Ty offered to walk Jensen home, but Jared said they had to go the same way anyway. For a moment, Ty and Jared stared at each other, and Jensen wondered if he was finally catching a glimpse of Jared’s alpha, but Jared’s face was open and guileless. There was no hint of alpha posturing, just a friend saying they were walking home together.  
  
Even though Jensen usually abhorred any kind of macho behavior, it would have been nice to see proof that Jared was interested. Obviously, he really wasn’t. When Ty leaned in to kiss Jensen softly on the cheek, Jared was fiddling with his phone. Great.  
  
So while Jensen was disappointed, he still didn’t like to see Jared down.  
  
He bumped his shoulder against Jared’s. “What’s going on?” Just because romantically their relationship wasn’t going anywhere, that didn’t mean Jensen didn’t want to be friends with Jared anymore.  
  
“What do you mean?” Jared asked tersely.  
  
“I don’t know. You’re in a bad mood.”  
  
Jared hook his head. “No. I... I’m just tired. Was a long night.”  
  
Jensen nodded and they walked the rest of the way in silence. When they reached Jensen’s apartment, Jensen stared dejectedly up at his window on the third floor.  
  
“Hey, you okay?” Jared asked.  
  
Jensen sighed. “Yeah. It’s just, you know, I have no food in the fridge and my apartment still looks kind of like a storage space and it just… you know?” Jensen was aware he was whining, but right now, he was tipsy, tired, and he was with Jared. Jared’s company was safe. They were still friends, right?  
  
Jared seemed to contemplate something before his mouth set into a determined line. “I’m making breakfast tomorrow, why don’t you come over? There’s always more than enough for everybody.”  
  
“You cook?” Jensen asked, mind boggled.  
  
Jared smiled. “Yeah, occasionally. I mean, I’m no master chef, but I make good pancakes and my hashbrowns are killer. It’s all about the secret ingredient.”  
  
For a moment, Jensen saw himself in bed with Jared, getting breakfast in bed. Thinking of his own ratty couch and empty cupboards, Jensen thought that, right now, he would appreciate someone to coddle him. The semester had been hell on him and it wasn’t even Thanksgiving yet.  
  
So he said, “yeah, okay, I’d love too.”  
  
Jared gave him a blinding smile in answer, pulled him in a one arm hug, and said, “great, then I’ll see you tomorrow.”  
  
For a moment, Jensen was overwhelmed by Jared, by the sudden proximity, his sweat-heavy scent, and the feeling of safety when being surrounded by Jared’s body.  
  
Shit.  
  
Jensen stumbled into his apartment, fell into his bed and thought it would be good to go on a date with Ty. It seemed he was in deeper with Jared than he thought.  
  
  
  
  
When Jared finally managed to get his hands on his phone, which was blaring “Friends Will Be Friends” at the highest volume, he stared uncomprehending at the numbers. It was eight AM. Why did he set his alarm for eight AM? Then he remembered inviting Jensen for breakfast and Jensen agreeing.  
  
Jared was out of the bed so fast he stumbled over his sheets and almost crashed headfirst into the radiator. He shook it off and stumbled through his room. Last night, he’d thrown his clothes everywhere, too frustrated with Mr. Nice-Alpha Ty — and what kind of name was that even — and Jensen suddenly being interested in dating an alpha. Jared had barely been able to prevent the disaster that would’ve been Ty walking Jensen home, but he’d completely ripped the pockets of his jeans while trying to remain civil. The fucker had kissed Jensen. Everything in him had screamed to rip Ty’s throat out and carry Jensen off to his bed, but somehow Jared didn’t think Jensen would’ve liked that too much. Dragging a hand through his hair, he decided he needed a shower. He went out into the living room. It looked like a bomb had gone off. Somehow, he’d missed that when he’d come home last night without bothering to turn on the light.  
  
Chad had apparently entertained company after he’d disappeared at Fuzzy’s. Beer bottles and chip bags were littering the apartment, the big armchair was toppled over, and Jared didn’t even want to think about the stains on the couch.  
  
He marched over to Chad’s door, ripped it open, and yelled, “Chad! You goddamn fucker, get your fucking ass out of bed. I don’t care who you fucked last night, but Jensen is coming over for breakfast and this is my one chance before he goes on a date with Mr Nice-Alpha, so you better—”  
  
Jaree broke off as his eyes adjusted to the darkness in Chad’s room and he recognized the guy next to his roommate glaring at him.  
  
“Et tu, Chris?” Jared asked, and really, how had Chad managed _that_?  
  
Then the bathroom door opened and, clad just in panties, Dani walked in. “If you’re done yelling like a hysterical third grader, could you please close the door behind you? The boys still owe me another round, but I promise as soon as we’re done, we’re gonna clean up.”  
  
Jared tried to close his mouth, staring back at Chad, who was lounging in his bed, looking completely smug. Dani ignored Jared and just went back to bed. Chad winked at Jared, and Jared was out of the room faster than he thought possible. There were things he never wanted to know and what went up Chad’s ass made the top of the list.  
  
He shuddered and went into the kitchen. If he wanted to impress Jensen, he’d need to pull out all the stops. And with the speed Ty was hitting on Jensen, Jared was on a deadline.  
  
  
  
  
Luckily, Jensen apparently slept in. When the doorbell rang, everybody was showered and dressed, the apartment was clean, and their kitchen table was laden with food. Jared’s pancakes were fluffy, the hash browns crispy, and the bacon filled the whole apartment with its mouth watering smell. Chad had done the only thing in the kitchen he was capable of and made a fruit salad.  
  
Dani gave Jared an encouraging smile and gripped Chris and Chad by the wrists. “Okay, boys, how about we all go back to my place now to clean up there?”  
  
Chad scrunched up his nose while Chris looked confused. “But your place is spotless.”  
  
“Ooops,” Dani said, walking towards the door. “I guess we’ll have to mess it up first then.”  
  
Jared laughed at Chad and Chris falling over themselves to get out of the apartment. There was a confused conversation in the stairwell when they met Jensen, but then Jensen was in Jared’s apartment, and Jared didn’t care if Chad, Dani, and Chris made it out of the house or went for the next round in the hallway.  
  
“What the hell…?” Jensen asked and Jared shrugged his shoulders.  
  
“I don’t know. Somehow, Chad gets them all.”  
  
Jensen scrutinized him. “You too?” he asked, trying to keep his tone light, but Jared heard the tension in it. His inner alpha roared, because why else would Jensen sound pissed except if he was jealous? Jared tried to tamped down on his excitement, but he wasn’t fully successful.  
  
He shuddered overdramatically. “God, no. Chad and I have been friends forever, that’s never gonna happen. We kissed once, in high school, and we both swore never again.”  
  
Jensen laughed and Jared needed to check himself so he wouldn’t start drooling. There was seriously nothing better in the world than Jensen laughing.  
  
“Breakfast?” he asked.  
  
Jensen nodded and stood in the kitchen with big eyes. “Who else is coming to breakfast? The three stooges?”  
  
Jared shook his head. “I thought Chad and the others would stay but apparently they wanted, er, privacy.”  
  
Jensen tilted his head. “You know, I can see it. If I don’t think about it too hard.”  
  
It wouldn’t do to show the sudden flash of jealousy now, so instead Jared pulled a chair out for Jensen.  
  
“So? Pancakes or bacon?”  
  
“Is that seriously an either-or question?”  
  
Jared grinned. Jackpot. Take that Mr. Old-Nice-Alpha.  
  
  
  
  
He didn't think he stopped grinning once during breakfast. Well, except for the time that Jensen moaned loudly around his first bite of pancake and Jared needed to bang his knee against the table so he wouldn’t get a hard-on at the table. Really though, Jared wanted to listen to that sound again and again, figure out how to draw it out of Jensen, how to touch him, how to kiss him, and how—  
  
“Jared? Hey, earth to Jared?”  
  
Guiltily, Jared tried to focus on non-pronographic thoughts. “Yeah?”  
  
Jensen laughed. “Where did you just go off to?”  
  
“Oh, I was just wondering if the couch is usable again.” Jared said the first thing he could think of that didn’t relate to Jensen and sex, but somehow it made Jensen’s face fall.  
  
To fix whatever he’d just messed up, Jared grinned. “So, you have any plans for today or you wanna have that Star Wars marathon?”  
  
“Star Wars,” Jensen said without hesitating. “I need an afternoon of not thinking about anything class-related.”  
  
Jared nodded. “Sounds good.”  
  
Jensen stood up to clear the table. “Your group project still giving you trouble?”  
  
“Oh no,” Jared protested and got up. “You’re a guest here, you don’t clean. And yeah. Usually, I wouldn't care so much but it’s thirty percent of our grade and one of the guys is a total asshole. I swear, if Beaver wouldn’t have my ass for it, I’d so take him out to the woods and beat his hide.”  
  
Jensen’s eyebrows shot up. “He’s pack?”  
  
“Justin Hartley is an asshole, that’s what he is. I swear, if his daddy weren’t pack alpha somewhere in Iowa, he’d never get away with all that shit.”  
  
Jensen was still looking at him with a frown and Jared tried to reign in his anger. He was a nice alpha.  
  
“But it doesn’t matter. The presentation is due after Thanksgiving. We’ll wrap it before the holidays and then I don’t have to deal with his ugly mug again.” He loaded the rest of the dishes into the dishwasher and put the leftovers in the fridge.  
  
“Speaking of Thanksgiving, are you going home?” Jared asked to change the topic.  
  
He knew Jensen hadn’t left home on good terms, but it was Thanksgiving. Jensen just shook his head though. “No, I’m gonna stay here. Home isn’t really... I joined the pack, you know. This is home now.”  
  
Hearing Jensen say that made Jared’s heart swell. But then he realized Jensen looked sad, probably because Jensen had no family he could go to for the holidays, and Jared could’ve kicked himself.  
  
“Jim always puts on a pack dinner for everyone and my family usually goes. The rest of the weekend is just running in the forest and eating leftovers. We usually hang out here or at Dani’s and Gen’s place. You know you’re gonna celebrate with us, right?”  
  
Jensen gave him a small smile. “Yeah, I know. And I appreciate it.”  
  
Jared snorted. “There’s nothing to appreciate. You’re part of the pack and our friend.”  
  
For a moment, Jensen looked bummed, but then he smiled again. “I like being friends with you guys. Well, maybe not Chad.”  
  
Jared laughed, but the friend comment stung. He decided to focus on the good stuff, like having Jensen with him right now, and went to his room to get his DVDs.  
  
When he came back, Jensen was already sitting on Jared’s couch, feet propped up on the coffee table, and he looked so at home, like he belonged…  
  
Jared cleared his throat. “Alright, let’s get this party started!”  
  
  
  
  
“When I was little, I always stole my Dad’s belts to build a thigh holster so I could dress up as Han,” Jared said when Leia was giving Han and Luke their medals.  
  
Jensen only managed a faint smile. Spending two hours sitting on Jared’s couch, right next to him, soaking in his scent and his warmth, was seriously messing with his head. Or he just hadn’t realized how hard he was falling.  
  
The thing was, even after Ty had kissed him last night, he’d fallen asleep to thoughts of Jared. And even though Jared hadn’t reacted last night, Jensen knew he liked him. So why not try? They were alone in the apartment, watching a movie, and Jensen subtly moved closer to Jared during the film. Their hands brushed reaching for the popcorn Jared had made halfway through, their toes knocked together on the coffee table whenever they rearranged themselves, and Jared did nothing. Absolutely nothing.  
  
Even if he was trying to be subtle and hold back, this was the perfect moment to make some kind of move. Jensen tried to get his attention by stretching, putting on quite the show, and Jared didn’t even looked. As a matter of fact, he’d spent the last half hour texting with someone.  
  
  
  
  
When the movie was over, Jared changed DVDs, oblivious to Jensen’s inner struggles. Jensen debated whether he should say something when his phone rang.  
  
“Yeah?”  
  
“Hi Jensen. This is Ty.”  
  
“Ty, hey.” Jensen stood up and signaled to Jared that he had to take this. He didn’t, not really, but right now, he wanted to.  
  
Ty got straight to the point, asking him to dinner that evening. Jensen peered from the kitchen into the living room where Jared was fucking around with his phone again.  
  
So Jensen said yes. The first time he’d really had an interest in an alpha and of course said alpha wasn’t interested in him. But Ty was. And he was nice, respectful. Jensen had sworn to try dating if he found a good alpha in his new pack, and while Ty wasn’t part of Jim’s pack, he was here now. And Jared... well, Jared was still texting.  
  
After telling Ty the address of a nice Italian place just off campus, Jensen hung up and went back to the living room.  
  
“You heading out?” Jared asked casually. “I thought we wanted to marathon this thing?”  
  
Jensen shrugged his shoulders, trying to hide his disappointment. “Yeah well, Ty asked me to dinner.”  
  
“You’d blow off the sacred Star Wars marathon for dinner with some guy you met in a bar?” Jared asked. “That’s harsh, man.”  
  
“He’s not some guy,” Jensen snapped. Who was Jared to tell him who to date? Besides, Jensen wouldn’t just go to dinner with any guy he met.  
  
“I met Ty at the conference. He’s a professor for lycanthropic genetics at Columbia.”  
  
“Oh,” Jared said, and looked strangely relieved. “So this is about your masters?”  
  
“No, it’s a date. But he’s not any guy. And you don’t seem to need my company to watch the movies. How about you just keep texting whoever’s so important and I’ll go?”  
  
Jared’s mouth opened and closed like a fish. “What? No, Jensen, that’s not—”  
  
Jensen raised his eyebrows, but Jared didn’t seem able to find the words.  
  
“Whatever,” Jensen said, walking towards the door. “I’ll see you next week in the library.”  
  
Jared’s “yeah, okay,” was quiet and sad, but Jensen pulled the door shut anyway.  
  
On his way to the bar, he got three texts, but he chose to ignore them. Not his most mature moment, but if he wanted to enjoy his date, he couldn’t be hung up on Jared being an asshole.  
  
Not that casual texting during a movie with friends was that bad, but Jensen had really thought — he drew in a deep breath when he reached the restaurant. It wouldn’t help thinking about the if’s and maybe’s now, not when there was a nice, intelligent alpha who wanted to take him to dinner.  
  
Jensen snorted. Take him to dinner. He’d pay for his own meal, and if Ty insisted on getting the check, he had another thing coming. Jensen’s phone vibrated in his pocket, and again he ignored it.  
  
When Jensen went inside, Ty was already waiting for him. He was wearing a suit, so maybe he’d just come from the conference.  
  
Ty was smooth, pulling a chair out for Jensen and handing him the menu.  
  
“I took the liberty of ordering a bottle of merlot,” Ty said with a smile.  
  
Irritatedly, Jensen looked up from his menu. “I don’t drink red wine.”  
  
Ty looked surprised for a moment, then he shrugged. “It’s a really good year, you should try it.”  
  
“Or maybe you shouldn’t order for other people if you don’t know what they like,” Jensen snapped. Shit. “Sorry,” he said, “long day. And I really don’t like it when people order for me.”  
  
Ty nodded. “No, I’m sorry. My mistake.”  
  
An uncomfortable silence fell over the table while they perused their menus. In a gesture of peace, Jensen asked if Ty wanted to split an appetizer and they ordered caprese and carpaccio.  
  
When Jensen asked Ty about the rest of the conference, the conversation started to flow naturally. The unread messages on his phone were burning a hole in his pocket, but Jensen was genuinely interested in what Ty had to tell him and Ty asked for his opinions on a lot of questions. It was a good distraction.  
  
After the appetizers, Ty asked him about his plans for the holidays. “It sounds like you have a lot on your plate. I bet you look forward to the holidays.”  
  
Jensen smiled. “Yeah. I’ll just be lazy and eat for four days.”  
  
“Will you be here or will you go home?”  
  
“This is my home now,” Jensen said. When he’d said it to Jared, it had felt like something still out of reach, but he’d realized it was true. Seattle did feel like home now.  
  
“What are you thinking about?” Ty asked, looking at him intently.  
  
“Thanksgiving,” Jensen answered. “Why?”  
  
Ty reached over the table and took Jensen’s hand. “You were smiling the most beautiful smile I have ever seen.”  
  
Jensen thought Ty was laying it on a bit thick there and looked pointedly down at their hands. He still didn’t like getting his hand grabbed. For a moment, Ty’s thumb brushed over the back of Jensen's hand, then he drew back.  
  
“Can I ask you something?” he asked.  
  
Jensen leaned back wearily. “You can ask whatever you want. I just can’t promise I’ll answer.”  
  
“Fair enough. I think you’re an extraordinary young beta, Jensen.”  
  
There it was, _beta_. Not the more common human denominators like _man_ or _guy_. _Beta._  
  
Crossing his arms in front of his chest, Jensen looked at Ty. “That wasn’t a question.”  
  
Ty gave him a wry smile. “No, it wasn’t. I just thought you might like to know why I am going to ask you if you would date me.”  
  
“That’s awfully formal,” Jensen said. “Usually people just spend some time together, and if they like each other, they end up kissing at some point.”  
  
Ty nodded. “Yes, usually. But I don’t have a lot of time. I’ll leave Seattle by the end of the week.”  
  
“I don’t think I’m the long-distance kind of guy,” Jensen said.  
  
“Neither am I.”  
  
“Then what—”  
  
Ty held up his hand. “Just hear me out. I know that Seattle has a good program and I have the highest respect for Professor Rhodes, but our program is better. With your grades and resume, it won’t be hard to petition the committee for a late admission. ”  
  
“Admission?” Jensen was confused. What was Ty talking about? And how did he know about his grades?  
  
“I’m not sure we can offer you the same scholarship you’re receiving here, since Colombia is more competitive, but I can support you as long as you want to live on your own.”  
  
Slowly, it started to dawn on Jensen what Ty was proposing here. Hell no.  
  
“You can stop talking,” Jensen said. “I’m not going to uproot my life.”  
  
Ty looked at him earnestly. “Jensen, I know this is quick. But there’s something here. And you don’t have to decide now. I just wanted to let you know it’s on the table.”  
  
Jensen shook his head and got up. “I’m sorry, but this was a mistake. I thought you were looking for a date, but you’re looking for someone to settle down with. A _beta_.”  
  
“Of course a beta,” Ty said irritatedly. “I’m not gay.”  
  
“No, I mean a beta, as opposed to a partner.”  
  
For the first time, Ty gave him a disparaging alpha look. “You study lycan genetics, Jensen. You should know there are certain things that define our gender.”  
  
“Bullshit. I’ve never found any other than the potential ability to bear children.” Jensen reached for his wallet and threw a bunch of bills on the table. “Good luck looking for a beta. I’m gonna go look for a partner.”  
  
Jensen’s phone buzzed again, reminding him that Jared and his friends would never pull this bullshit. None of them made a distinction in their treatment of alphas or betas. A sudden longing for Jared’s company hit him, a desire to just sit next to him and bitch about his crap day. Usually Jensen bitched about his students or his neighbors playing COD at three AM, but now it was about a date. Not that it was really any different, because to Jared, he was just a friend.  
  
With a sigh, Jensen pulled his phone out of his pocket. He was curious about how much Jared had apologized.  
  
 _Jensen Im sorry it was emergency texting_ , the first one read.  
  
 _I know it was an ass move Im sorry and I didnt want to make u feel bad about ur date_ , was the second one.  
  
 _Jensen are u still mad?  
  
Dont be mad  
  
okay that was stupid can we just talk?  
  
kay I get it. cu in the library still?_  
  
Jensen had to laugh. He could just picture Jared, staring at his phone with his sad puppy-dog eyes.  
  
 _U still awake?_ he texted Jared and got an instant reply.  
  
 _Yes  
  
Can I come over?  
  
Yes_  
  
Pocketing his phone, Jensen walked back towards Jared’s apartment.  
  
Jared started talking as soon as Jensen walked through the door.  
  
“Okay, first off, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to be rude and I didn’t want to bitch at you and—”  
  
“Breathe, Jared,” Jensen said, and Jared dragged a hand through his hair and exhaled.  
  
“It’s just, I wanted to do it right and not mess up, but I didn’t know how,” Jared said exasperatedly.  
  
“Do what right?”  
  
Jared hesitated, eyes searching Jensen’s face. Then he straightened up, and with an expression of fatalistic determination, said, “making a move.”  
  
For a moment, Jensen was stunned. “So you _have_ been trying to woo me!”  
  
Jared looked like a kid caught with his hand in the cookie jar. “You noticed?”  
  
Jensen couldn’t suppress the snort. “I’m not stupid. I just wasn’t sure because you were so weird about it.”  
  
“Yeah well, you obviously don’t like alphas very much, so I, you know, didn’t want to come across like a knotheaded asshole.”  
  
Jared had wooed him because he didn’t want to scare Jensen off. It was so cute and yet so stupid. “Jared, there are miles of difference between hitting on someone and being an alpha asshole. You could’ve just, I don’t know, asked me out?”  
  
Jared looked at him dubiously. “Would you have said yes?”  
  
“Maybe not—” Jared’s face fell “—right away. But after a few weeks, yeah, I think so.” Jared stared.  
  
“I’d say yes now, if that helps,” Jensen added.  
  
Jared was still staring. “But…”  
  
Jensen rolled his eyes; he couldn’t believe that Jared really wanted to date him, not just be his friend, and they were still standing here like two awkward teenagers.  
  
“Fine. Jared, will you go on a date with me? Dinner and a movie, Friday night?”  
  
Jared swallowed and took a step towards Jensen. “Friday? That’s an awfully long time until then.”  
  
Jensen felt himself smile. He probably looked like a lunatic right now. But Jared wanted him. Jared had wooed him because he wanted to make sure Jensen wouldn’t see him as a knotheaded asshole. It was the sweetest thing anyone had ever done for him.  
  
Jared was sweet and funny, attentive and caring. Spending time with him was the easiest and most comfortable thing Jensen had ever done. He wanted to see where this could go.  
  
So Jensen took three steps forward until he was standing directly in front of Jared. “I’ve only dated an alpha once. He turned out to be an asshole, like most guys I grew up with. You’re different.”  
  
Jared smiled.  
  
Jensen smiled back. “I really want to try.”  
  
“Me too,” Jared said, with a slightly dopey grin that Jensen would’ve mocked him for forever, except that it tugged at his heart. They moved at the same time and then, finally, they were kissing.  
  
It was slow and careful, and Jensen appreciated it. Jared ran hot, and his lips were soft under Jensen. Jensen had to tilt his head up and he liked that. He also liked the feeling of Jared’s broad shoulders under his hands, and how Jared moved his mouth gentle and soft over Jensen’s.  
  
As first kisses went, it was pretty damn good.  
  
It got even better when he felt Jared carefully press closer, move them together until they were touching everywhere. Jensen opened his mouth to Jared’s lips, and with a tiny groan, Jared slotted his lips between Jensen’s. The kiss went from slow and sweet to hot and messy in a heartbeat. Pretty fucking good.  
  
They broke apart when they needed to breathe and Jensen was panting, his dick was half-hard in his pants, and the room was filled with their pheromones.  
  
Jared was staring at him like he couldn’t believe this was actually happening. Jensen shrugged out of his jacket, because he was so _ready_ for this to happen.  
  
Jared’s nostrils flared and a muscle in his cheek clenched. “Fuck, Jensen,” he bit out.  
  
Then Jared’s mouth was on Jensen’s again, kissing him deeply and thoroughly. Heat zinged through Jensen from head to toe. Jared gripped him tight, pushing him back, and Jensen landed ass first on the couch. He didn’t have time to collect his bearings, because Jared was following him down, his impressive bulk pressing Jensen into the couch.  
  
Jared was just there, right there in Jensen's space, broad shoulders looming, and then he was kissing Jensen again, practically devouring Jensen’s mouth and grinding his hard dick against Jensen’s pelvis. Jared was packing some serious heat, which got Jensen even hotter. Jared kissed down Jensen’s neck and bit into his shoulder before he suddenly stilled.  
  
“Shit, sorry,” Jared panted out and drew back.  
  
Jensen looked at him in confusion. What the fuck?  
  
Jared’s breathing was labored, his cheeks were flushed — a good look on him — but his eyes were wide with apprehension.  
  
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to — fuck, you’re just so — okay, no. This is obviously not your fault, it’s mine, I should have a better handle — it’s just, so long, Jensen, and I’m really sorry.”  
  
“Jared, I have no idea what the fuck you’re talking about,” Jensen said, completely nonplussed. What the hell was Jared thinking?  
  
Jared drew back and sat down at the other end of the couch, impressive erection still tenting his pants and a flush high on his cheeks. He actually looked embarrassed.  
  
“I didn’t mean to go all alpha on you,” he mumbled, talking more to his hands in his lap than to Jensen.  
  
“You didn’t…” Jensen trailed off, working his way through Jared’s statement. Why would… Oh. _Oh._  
  
Slowly, Jensen scooted forwards and took one of Jared’s hands. Then he pressed it to his own dick, hard and leaking in his pants. “Does this feel like I didn’t like what you just did?”  
  
Jared’s head shot up and he looked at Jensen with wide eyes. “But… You don’t like alpha posturing. You don’t like the whole dominance—”  
  
Jensen cut him off with a finger to his lips. “I don’t like to be treated like I’m worth less, like I’m stupid or weak. I don’t like to be patronized, or told what I should or shouldn’t do.” He took his finger away and gave Jared a soft kiss. “And I love that you never did any of that and went out of your way not to make me feel like that.”  
  
Jared smiled hesitantly.  
  
“But getting manhandled during sex?” Jensen raised one eyebrow pointedly. “Having someone bite me and tear my clothes off and fuck me hard against a wall?”  
  
Jared stared at him like he was in a trance, unconsciously licking his lips.  
  
“That has nothing to do with alpha or beta, or how I live the rest of my life. That’s just what gets me really, _really_ hot.”  
  
“How are you even real?” Jared asked with a breathless voice.  
  
Jensen let his eyes roam over Jared’s strong body, his hands still clenched in his lap, and shook his head. “Me? You’re the cutest, nicest, most attentive alpha I’ve ever met, who turns out to be a beast in bed.” Jensen paused. “I think. So you know…”  
  
For a moment, he’d feared the mood was gone, but then Jared practically jumped him. Jensen huffed out a laugh and got his hands in Jared’s hair. It felt as soft as it looked. He gave a sharp tug; Jared moaned and bit into Jensen’s neck again. Fuck.  
  
“So tell me,” Jensen said, and he was surprised his voice sounded so raspy. “What you do you wanna do?”  
  
Pulling his knees up so he had Jared cradled between his thighs, he raised his hips. Their dicks rubbed against each other with the perfect friction.  
  
“I wanna fuck you,” Jared panted out, moving his hips in an imitation of what he wanted to do. “Wanna pin you down and _take_ you until the whole fucking city can hear you howl.”  
  
Jensen grinned, half out of his mind with lust already. Yes, please.  
  
“Every time an alpha touches you, I want to rip off their arm. I want to mark you so that everybody knows you’re mine, that no one can have you.”  
  
“While this is hypothetically really hot,” Jensen said, slowly dragging a hand over Jared’s back. “If you ever actually pull any of that macho alpha shit, I’m out the door faster you can say ‘mine’, got it?”  
  
Jared pulled back, looking at Jensen with his puppy dog eyes again. “Jensen, I would never…”  
  
Jensen smiled. “I know. Just making sure there are no more misunderstandings,” he said and playfully tugged on Jared’s hair. “As long as we’re behind closed doors though…”  
  
Jared’s face transformed in a second into a sharp predatory grin. “Oh yeah? Sure you can handle that?”  
  
It was such a cheesy line, but the way Jared said it, his gaze burning straight through Jensen and his body holding him down on the couch, still made Jensen’s breathing speed up.  
  
“Why don’t we find out?” he asked.  
  
In answer, Jared took off his shirt, ripped off Jensen’s, and then kissed him again. Jared’s lips were hot and insistent, devouring Jensen’s mouth before trailing down his neck and sucking a hickey into the hollow of his throat while Jared’s hands were already working on getting his pants off. Jensen reached down to help but got distracted stroking Jared’s dick.  
  
“Shit, Jensen, I wanna fuck you, I really — but if you…”  
  
Fuck. Jensen didn’t always need to go the whole way, but fuck did he want Jared’s dick in his ass. He let go of Jared’s dick, instead pushing Jared’s jeans down over his ass and _god_ , what a great ass it was. But Jared was already scooting lower, dragging Jensen’s pants down and nosing along Jensen’s treasure tail.  
  
When Jared licked along the underside of Jensen’s cock, Jensen moaned and buried his hands in Jared’s hair again.  
  
“Fuck, yes.”  
  
Jared just took Jensen’s hands and pinned them to the couch.  
  
“But I want to—” Jensen started when Jared suddenly kneeled, gripped Jensen's left hip and right shoulder, and spun him around.  
  
Jensen landed flat on his belly, and before he could gather his wits, Jared had already pulled his hips up and licked between his ass cheeks.  
  
“Oh god…”  
  
Jared chuckled against his ass and continued to eat him out as if his life was dependent on it. Jensen dissolved into an incoherent puddle of want. Jared’s mouth was just so fucking _perfect_ , hot and wet, Jensen’s own slick adding to the sensation. Jared’s tongue pushed in so deep and then there were these soft little bites to Jensen’s rim. When Jared sealed his mouth around his hole and sucked, Jensen thought he’d come from that alone.  
  
Then Jared pushed two fingers inside, and Jensen moaned at the stretch. It felt so fucking good, but it wasn’t enough, not nearly enough.  
  
“C’mon, Jared, m’ready.”  
  
“Know you are. So fucking wet for me,” Jared said and his breathing was labored. “But you’re so fucking beautiful like this.”  
  
Jensen wanted to protest, but Jared twisted his fingers, brushing against Jensen's prostate, so it came out as a shout instead.  
  
“Fuck. Just fuck me already!”  
  
Thank fuck Jared listened.  
  
Jared’s dick was thick and hot when he finally pushed inside slowly. It was perfect. It got even better when Jared started fucking him in earnest, fast, deep strokes that had Jensen gripping the couch and wantonly raising his hips.  
  
“Oh god,” Jared moaned out, hands digging hard into Jensen’s hips, “you feel so good, fuck, look how fucking beautiful you are.”  
  
Jensen pushed back harder, wanting to make Jared really lose it, but then Jared shifted; his dick hit Jensen’s prostate straight on and Jensen couldn’t do anything but keep breathing. There was no way he could drag it out, not with Jared fucking him just right, not with Jared’s dick swelling up, knot expanding. When Jared leaned forward, covered Jensen with his body, and bit into Jensen’s neck, Jensen was done.  
  
His whole body clenched and he came so hard that his arms gave out below him and he slumped into the couch.  
  
Jared groaned, breathing hot and choppy against Jensen’s neck, and his dick swelled further, knot lodging deep in Jensen’s body before Jared shuddered and ground his hips into Jensen. The pressure was almost too much, Jensen felt so fucking full, _too_ full, but at the same time, he couldn’t get enough. He lifted his hips feebly and felt Jared’s knot expand further.  
  
“Fuck, shit, oh holy... Jensen!”  
  
Jared pumped into him wildly, just pushing his knot in deeper, and came with a shout. When Jensen could feel Jared’s knot pulse inside of him, a second orgasm took him by surprise, starting out deep in his body and spreading out into the the tips of his fingers.  
  
“Jesus fuck,” he mumbled weakly, and behind him, Jared let out a low chuckle.  
  
“Something like that, yeah.”  
  
They lay there awhile, panting and sweaty, then they rolled over and, after a bit of jostling — Jared’s couch was big, but not that big — managed to lie on their sides, Jensen’s head pillowed on Jared’s arm. The silence was comfortable as Jensen doodled random patterns on Jared’s arm while Jared pressed the occasional kiss onto his head and nosed around behind his ear, scenting him.  
  
Jensen didn’t think there was a way he could smell more like Jared after the fuck they just had, but it was probably Jared’s instincts coming out to play. Speaking of...  
  
“So be honest, how hard is it for you to tone it down?"  
  
  
  
  
Jared was just reveling in the fact that he and Jensen had had sex, were _dating_ now, because Jensen actually wanted him, had wanted him all along, when Jensen’s question pulled him out of his musings.  
  
He raised his head from where he’d buried his nose in the soft hairs at the nape of Jensen's neck — he couldn’t get enough of how Jensen smelled now, happy and satisfied, with Jared’s scent slowly mingling with his own  
  
Jared looked over Jensen’s body, covered in sweat and come, bite and claw marks littering his ass, back, and neck. “Not too hard.”  
  
Jensen snorted. “And if you couldn’t fuck me through the mattress?”  
  
Jared thought about it, then decided evasion was the best tactic. “Will there ever come a day you _won’t_ let me fuck you through the mattress?”  
  
“Sometimes I like to cuddle,” Jensen said, pushing back into Jared’s body.  
  
“That doesn’t sound too bad.” Actually it sounded heavenly. Because as much as Jared had dreamed of fucking Jensen and claiming him for his own, visions of the two of them lounging around on the couch or in bed for hours, just touching while they were watching a movie, were equally alluring.  
  
“And sometimes, I like to be in charge.” At that, Jared perked up. He was usually all alpha in bed, but bossy Jensen...  
  
Jensen pushed himself up and straddled Jared. “Like to ride you, make you beg for it.”  
  
Jared’s dick twitched and he gripped Jensen’s hips. He had no doubt Jensen could get him to beg, if Jared could hold out long enough before just taking what he wanted. It was an interesting question and he was dying to test it out.  
  
He kissed Jensen slow and deep, but before he could take things further, the apartment door banged open. There was no way to hide, so Jared flipped them around to cover Jensen’s naked body with his own. Chad did not need to see Jensen naked.  
  
Jensen sputtered. “Jared, what the—”  
  
“Fucking finally,” Chad said with a grin, ambling in the living room and plopping down in the armchair as if Jared and Jensen weren’t buck-naked on the couch. “Or finally fucking.” He snickered at his own joke.  
  
Jensen snorted.  
  
Jared glared. “Dude, you mind?”  
  
Chad sighed in mock suffering. “You never let me enjoy anything.”  
  
A growl started building low in Jared’s chest and he only stopped when Jensen cuffed him upside the head.  
  
“Don’t growl at Chad,” he said mildly.  
  
“Thank you,” Chad said, way too sincere, a twinkling in his eyes, and Jared feared the worst. If he were dressed, hell if _Jensen_ were dressed, he’d already be over there, physically shutting Chad up. Like this, he had to let Chad talk and hope he wouldn’t embarrass Jared too bad. Oh, who was he kidding? This was going to be a disaster.  
  
“Living with him has been downright dangerous these past weeks. I’m glad you’re here to keep him in check.”  
  
“Dangerous?” Jensen asked, looking at Chad curiously. “Tell me more.”  
  
“Bodily harm, I almost didn’t evaded it,” Chad sighed, putting the back of his hand against his brow. “When I took his hoodie, he almost murdered me in the kitchen!”  
  
“Chad!”  
  
“Hoodie?” Jensen asked.  
  
“Yeah, the brown one,” Chad said. “You know, the one that _reeked_ of you. Like you _slept_ with it.”  
  
Jared would hate Chad so much, he really would, except that the tips of Jensen’s ears were red and a slight blush was creeping over his cheeks. Jared stared at it and wondered what it meant.  
  
Jensen squirmed for a moment then he threw his hands up as best he could, lying on the couch under Jared. “Fine! So I wore that thing a bit. It’s really comfy, okay? And my heating sucks, so I needed something warm to wear at night.”  
  
“You slept in my hoodie?” Jared asked, stunned, while his inner alpha preened with pride.  
  
“Oh my god, you two deserve each other,” Chad groaned out and got up.  
  
Jared heard him walking towards the front door, but he couldn’t look away from Jensen.  
  
“I’m gonna spend the night at Dani’s,” Chad yelled belligerently. “But starting tomorrow you can go fuck at Jensen’s place.” The door slammed close with a bang.  
  
“I’m so sorry about him,” Jared said sincerely. “I don’t know why we’re still friends.”  
  
Jensen laughed, open and beautiful, with his eyes crinkling. “It’s okay. I think he’s growing on me. Just no more pouncing on him, okay?”  
  
“Don’t worry,” Jared grinned. “The only one I’m gonna pounce is you.”  
  
“You’re such a romantic.”  
  
“I try.”  
  
Jensen shook his head. “Considering how weird your whole wooing spiel was, how about you try harder?”  
  
Jared would be offended if Jensen wasn’t right. So instead he kissed Jensen. “I promise I will try harder. Especially as long as Chad is gone.”  
  
Jensen laughed the whole way to the bedroom, hanging over Jared's shoulder and slapping his new boyfriend's ass. They didn’t leave it until Chad came back Monday morning.  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> You can find me on tumblr [ here](http://ashtray-thief.tumblr.com/).


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